Small Black Holes Discovered In Cluster NGC 6397

Small Black Holes Discovered In Cluster NGC 6397:

The astronomers have discovered a concentration of smaller black holes in the cluster NGC 6397. Small black holes were discovered instead of one massive black hole at the heart of the cluster.

• The Globular clusters are a dense stellar system that hosts the closely packed stars.
• Such systems are typically very old. For instance, the cluster NGC 6397 is as old as the universe.
• NGC 6397 cluster is located around 7,800 light-years away.
• Thus, it is one of the closest globular clusters to the Planet Earth.
• This cluster is also known as the Core-Collapsed Cluster because of its very dense nucleus.
• The precise measurement of the stars in the cluster’s core was made with the Hubble Space Telescope.
  NGC 6397
• The cluster is also known as Caldwell 86. It is a globular cluster lying in the constellation Ara.
• The cluster is located around 7,800 light-years from Earth.
• It comprises around 400,000 stars.
• The cluster can be observed with naked-eye under good observing conditions.
• This cluster is one among the at least 20 globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy which has gone through the core collapse.
• Core collapse means the core has contracted to a dense stellar agglomeration.