Globular Cluster Omega Centauri Captured by NEWFIRM on the Blanco Telescope

During its commissioning and capabilities testing, astronomers used NEWFIRM on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile to capture a spectacular image of the Omega Centauri globular cluster.

At about 17,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Centaurus, Omega Centauri is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way, containing approximately 10 million stars, making it a popular target for observations.