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Ever seen 80,000 suns set at once?
M22 Globular cluster, estimated to have 80,000 stars in the system hangs over the southern skies in the constellation of Sagittarius, poised to "set" below the horizon in about three hours.This is light from ten thousand years ago, when in northern Mesopotamia, now northern Iraq, cultivation of barley had just started. World population is estimated to have been between 1 and 10 million at the time, slightly more than New York city and less than any of the top 10 most populous cities in the world today.
M22 also happens to be the first known globular cluster cluster discovered by a German astronomer over 350 years ago.
Globular clusters are among the oldest stellar systems orbiting galactic centers. Generally the stars are in the same stage in their lifecycle suggesting they were formed at the same time, but the process of origination of such systems is unknown.
This was the original photo taken from my front porch on Sep 19, 2019, 9 pm ET. This is a single image without stacking. The stars are not pinpoints bt showing star trails. It is quite amazing what difference a better process can make using the same equipment.
The view from inside - star studded skies!
The average distance between the stars in a globular cluster is about a few light months (Source). Compare that to average distance of stars near the sun being about 3-4 light years. Even then the distances between stars are several thousand times their own sizes.
From an imaginary planet near the center of a globular cluster the night sky would look very bright all the time but not buzzing with stars. There would be hundreds of stars in the sky as bright as or brighter than planets in our skies. Another way to visualize this is a couple hundred Antares and another few hundred Arcturus equivalent red stars (Source) would adorn the night sky all the time. making it as bright as our full moon nights just by starlight.
What a view that must be!
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