She doesn’t even go here!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ When astronomers first studied the globular star cluster seen here in an image from NASAHubble, they found that it appeared to be around 30% younger than other similar clusters in the Milky Way. If this cluster – Palomar 12 – was born in our galaxy, then it would be around the same age as other Milky Way globulars… so it couldn’t be from here.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Further study revealed that Palomar 12 was actually ripped from its initial home, the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical galaxy, around 1.7 billion years ago by tidal interactions between its former home and our galaxy. The dwarf galaxy that Palomar 12 once called home is a satellite galaxy to ours, and closely orbits around us — even occasionally passing through the plane of our galaxy.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Globular clusters like Palomar 12 can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of stars, packed tightly together in dense clumps ranging from 50 to 450 light-years across. Because they contain so many stars, globular ...