NASA images: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared a stunning image of a 10-billion-year-old globular star cluster, NGC 6496, which the space agency has described as “heavy metal.”
NASA said these clusters are about 35,000 light-years away from Earth. In a post on Instagram, the space agency also said that the stars in this cluster have a significantly higher concentration of metals, elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, than those found in comparable stellar clusters.
NASA further explained that NGC 6496 contains long-period variable stars – giant pulsating stars whose brightness can change over time by a thousand days or more. “It also contains short-period eclipsing binary stars, where the brightness of one star dims as it passes in front of the other.
People were mesmerized by the stunning image of NGC 6496. One person commented, “It looks like glitter,” while another added, “We are dust in the universe.”
Another user commented on the beauty of the sky and asked, “How beautiful is the sky”. A user also asked, “I have been fascinated by the universe since my childhood and am eager to know more about its limits. Is there an end to the universe, or is it infinite? I would greatly appreciate any information you can provide.”
NASA update on the return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are awaiting NASA’s decision on the Starliner’s return to Earth. NASA still has to decide on several issues – the date for the Starliner astronauts’ return from space, whether to send the Boeing spacecraft back without a crew, or whether to send two astronauts back aboard the Starliner or SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
“We’re getting to a point where we should really be making a decision in the last week of August, if not before,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said in his latest update on the Starliner launch.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore took off on the Starliner on June 5. They arrived at the International Space Station on June 6. They were supposed to return to Earth by mid-June. However, their plans were derailed after several problems were found in the Starliner capsule
