When is omega centauri visible

The immense Omega Centauri is widely regarded as the most impressive globular cluster in the sky. Its deep southern location makes this object challenging to spot — but it can be done, as Italian observer Giuseppe Pappa explains.

Around mid-May to early June, the approach of northern summer means the nights become short. But the evening sky continues to show a lot of interesting deep-sky objects of all kinds. This year bright Jupiter is also passing through Leo, and Mars, near opposition, is easy to spot in the east. When Edmond Halley rediscovered this object in , he described it as the nonstellar telescopic object we now know it to be. Several studies reveal that Omega Centauri has different stellar populations that formed at varying periods of time, unlike the situation with other globulars.

So some astronomers suspect that this object is a remnant of a small dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way. But here in the north, it only barely clears the southern horizon, if at all, and can only be seen at certain times of the year.

The most convenient time to see it in the evening sky is from May to June around 10 or 11 p. That corresponds to about 1 a. Start your search for this spectacular object with Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. I took the pictures shown here last year from Sicily. The one above gives a good impression of what you might see by eye. The second image, taken with a DSLR camera and a mm lens, gives a decent impression of how Omega Centauri looks when as seen with binoculars.

As you can see it is visible despite the skyglow from a city. With a telescope you can resolve more and more stars. So try to find Omega Centauri yourself — and maybe it will become one of your favorite targets too. A fun article for some of us horizon scrapers. I have seen Omega Center a couple of times from about latitude Once when Comet Halley passed near it in April , and one other time since. It was quite easy in binoculars and on the verge of resolution with a 10" reflector from a dark site- worth seeing and not just as a horizon challenge.

The presence of this black hole is just one of the reasons why some astronomers suspect Omega Centauri to be an imposter. Some believe that it is in fact the heart of a dwarf galaxy that was largely destroyed in an encounter with the Milky Way. Other evidence see ESO Press Release eso and heic points to the several generations of stars present in the cluster — something unexpected in a typical globular cluster, which is thought to contain only stars formed at one time.

Whatever the truth, this dazzling celestial object provides professional and amateur astronomers alike with an incredible view on clear dark nights. Select Language en. Science User Portal. Subscribe Contact Site Map. Open Menu. Xavier Barcons Prof. Cesarsky Prof. Giacconi Prof. More recent research has disputed these findings, but has not entirely ruled out the presence of a black hole. However, the maximum mass of the black hole was limited to 12, solar masses.

Omega Centauri is visible to the unaided eye, but best seen through a telescope. When observed from a dark area, it appears almost the size of the full Moon. The cluster can only be seen at certain times of the year from the northern hemisphere. The best time to observe it is in the evenings from late April to early June. The object is visible from January to April as well, but observers need to stay up late or get up before sunrise to see it. For observers south of the equator, the best time to see Omega Centauri is from March through October.

It lies about 13 degrees to the northeast of Gacrux Gamma Crucis , the star located at the top of the Southern Cross. Omega Centauri can be located in the sky using Spica , the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Omega Centauri and Spica transit together, i. The imaginary line leads first to Arcturus and then to Spica. The Omega Centauri cluster has a mass of about 5 million Suns, which makes it about 10 times more massive than a typical large globular cluster and almost as massive as a small galaxy.

Of all the known globular clusters in the Local Group of galaxies, the only one that is brighter and more massive than Omega Centauri is Mayall II , located in the Andromeda Galaxy Messier Omega Centauri also rotates a lot faster than a typical globular cluster, and has a flattened shape.