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Omega Centauri or NGC 5139 is a globular cluster of stars orbiting our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is the largest globular cluster associated with the Milky Way that has been discovered to date, and is one of the few that can be seen with the naked eye. Omega Centauri is located about 17,000 light years (5200 pc) from Earth and contains several million Population II stars. It is about 12 billion years old.

Omega Centauri is located at 13h26.8m right ascension, −47°29' declination, with an apparent magnitude of 3.68, and covering 36.3' of sky. It is in the constellation Centaurus, and was given a Bayer designation despite the fact that it is a cluster and not an individual star.

With more observations, it has been found that Omega Centauri is not like other globular clusters, in that it has several generations of stars. Laura Stanford, a graduate student in the Australian National University’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics who conducted a study of Omega Centauri's stars, speculates that it is actually the core of a dwarf galaxy several hundred times its present size, which was ripped apart and absorbed by our Milky Way galaxy. Theoretical modeling by dr Glenn van de Ven at Leiden University agrees with her suspicions.

See also

• Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
• Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy
• Globular Cluster M54
• Mayall II

External links

• Hubblesite - Peering into the core of a globular cluster
• Omega Centauri: Former Core of a Dwarf Galaxy?

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