This new image from the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile shows a vast collection of stars, the globular cluster Messier 54. This cluster looks very similar to many others but it has a secret. Messier 54 doesn’t belong to the Milky Way, but is part of a small satellite galaxy, the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy. This unusual parentage has now allowed astronomers to use the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to test whether there are also unexpectedly low levels of the element lithium in stars outside the Milky Way.
The release, images and videos are available on:
http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1428/
Translations are available on other countries page: Österreich, België—Belgique—Belgien, Brasil, Chile, Česko, Danmark, France, Deutschland, Ísland, Italia, Nederland, Norge, Polska, Portugal, Россия, Srbija, España, Sverige, Suisse—Schweiz—Svizzera, Türkiye, Україна
Kind regards,
The ESO Education and Public Outreach Department
10 September 2014
