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Article: Andromeda's twin peaks. (possible second star cluster observed with the Hubble Telescope) (Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 7, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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With dust obscuring the center of our own galaxy, astronomers sometimes turn for answers to Andromeda, the nearest galaxy similar to the Milky Way. The core of this spiral neighbor, researchers reason, should contain features resembling those at the heart of our galaxy.
But Andromeda may not fully merit its reputation as a Milky Way look-alike. Newly released images, taken in 1991 by the Hubble Space Telescope, suggest that Andromeda has two distinct clusters of stars at its core. The Milky Way has just one.
The brighter cluster, visible from Earth, was thought to lie at Andromeda's exact center. But Hubble has uncovered a second, dimmer nucleus of ...