# @europeanspaceagency on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DJh2uXAMrmX
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35582175-europeanspaceagency-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/dcbde22265.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-11T21:50:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** J.L.Lopez (@xandler80) — https://gondola.cc/xandler80

## Caption

Hubble time! 🌌

M72 is a collection of stars, formally known as a globular cluster, located in the constellation Aquarius roughly 50 000 light years from Earth. The intense gravitational attraction between the closely packed stars gives globular clusters their regular, spherical shape. Roughly 150 clusters such as this have been discovered in the Milky Way galaxy.

The striking variety in the colour of the stars in this image of M72, particularly compared to the original image, results from adding ultraviolet observations to the previous visible-light data. The colours indicate groups of different types of stars. Blue stars are those in the cluster that were originally more massive, and have now reached hotter temperatures after burning through much of their hydrogen fuel; the bright red objects are lower-mass stars that have now become red giants. Studying these different groups help astronomers to understand how globular clusters, and the galaxies they were born in, initially formed. 

Pierre Méchain, a French astronomer and colleague of Charles Messier, discovered M72 in 1780. It was the first of five star clusters that Méchain would discover while assisting Messier. It was recorded as the 72nd entry in Messier’s famous collection of astronomical objects, and the object is also one of the most remote clusters in the catalogue.

📸 europeanspaceagency / hubbleesa & NASA, A. Sarajedini, G. Piotto, M. Libralato; creativecommons BY 4.0

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## Credits

These are the roles credited on Gondola. Credits may be incomplete.
A brand, account owner, or featured person is not necessarily the creator.

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ESA - European Space Agency | @europeanspaceagency | https://gondola.cc/europeanspaceagency | Government Organization |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Producer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Editor |
| Hubble Space Telescope | @hubbleesa | https://gondola.cc/hubbleesa | Photographer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Social Media Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Publisher |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Copywriter |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Community Manager |

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