Image 7-12
Omega Centauri Cluster

A cluster brimming with millions of stars glistens like an iridescent opal in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Known as Omega Centauri, this orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the 150 or so globular clusters that orbit our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. Globular clusters are some of the oldest objects in our universe. Their stars are over 12 billion years old, and, in most cases, formed all at once when the universe was just a toddler.