July 19, 1998
Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.
Globular Cluster M3
Birthday · July 19, 1998
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APOD published July 19, 1998. Credit: P. Challis (CfA), 1.2-m Telescope, Whipple Observatory. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This huge ball of stars predates our Sun. Long before mankind evolved, before dinosaurs roamed, and even before our Earth existed, ancient globs of stars condensed and orbited a young Milky Way Galaxy. Of the 250 or so globular clusters that survive today, M3 is one of the largest and brightest, easily visible in the Northern hemisphere with binoculars. M3 contains about half a million stars, most of which are old and red. The existence of young blue stars in M3 once posed a mystery, but these blue stragglers are now thought to form via stellar interactions.
Image credit: P. Challis (CfA), 1.2-m Telescope, Whipple Observatory