NASA images: Photo of massive star clusters in Milky Way’s heart; netizens say ‘time travel in picture’

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared stunning image of center of the galaxy which showcases massive star cluster containing more than half a million stars. As per NASA, these stars are part of a massive nuclear star cluster clumped around a central supermassive black hole about 4 million times the mass of our Sun.

The image was captured by NASA, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team. The Hubble Space Telescope which launched in 1990 changed the fundamental understanding of the universe right from determining the atmospheric composition of planets around other stars to discovering dark energy.

Coming back to the image shared by NASA Hubble, it explained that the “snowstorm” of stars in the image shared is just the tip of the iceberg as astronomers estimate that around 10 million stars in this cluster are too faint to be visible in the image.

NASA Hubble took to social media and shared the mesmerising image of the galaxy. It wrote, “Journey to the center of our galaxy. Deep in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy lies a massive star cluster containing more than half a million stars. Hubble’s infrared view stitched a 50-light-year span of stars together to create this #HubbleClassic”

Netizens have expressed their amazement at the image shared by NASA Hubble, with some describing it as “Time travel in a picture” and others calling it “Beautifully wow”, “Stunning,” and “Stellar”

Many users have also thanked NASA for the valuable insights, imagery, and research. “Thanks for providing us all the insight, imagery and the research,” a user wrote.

“There is definitely alot of other life out there. Way to many places and chances for that not to be true,” some other added.

NASA update on Sunita Williams return from space

Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer. NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers are not ready to announce a return date.

(With inputs from Associated Press)