Hubble Space Telescope captures image of globular cluster Messier 30

The Hubble Space Telescope, using its Advanced Camera for Surveys, has captured a detailed image of Messier 30 (M30), a globular cluster located approximately 27,500 light-years away in the constellation Capricornus.

M30 is a dense, roughly spherical grouping of several hundred thousand stars spanning about 90 light-years across. Formed roughly 13 billion years ago, such globular clusters are among the oldest structures in the universe, acting as time capsules that preserve the original chemistry of early galaxies.

Globular clusters typically reside in a galaxy's halo. Historically, observations of these clusters helped astronomers like Harlow Shapley determine that the Sun is not at the center of the Milky Way. While M30 is primarily composed of old stars, the dense environment can produce blue stragglers, which are stars that appear younger due to stellar interactions.