Dust-shrouded Milky Way star cluster may be nearly as old as the universe

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Summary

Astronomers have determined that VVV CL001, a metal-poor globular cluster near the center of the Milky Way, is about 13.4 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known star clusters in our galaxy. The cluster lies behind thick clouds of interstellar dust, which made its distance and age difficult to establish. The paper, outlining the methodology for estimating its age and distance, was posted to the arXiv preprint server on Oct. 20. It has been accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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Phys Center Factuality: Mostly factual US 23 hours ago
Dust-shrouded Milky Way star cluster may be nearly as old as the universe
Astronomers have determined that VVV CL001, a metal-poor globular cluster near the center of the Milky Way, is about 13.4 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known star clusters in our galaxy. The cluster lies behind thick clouds of interstellar dust, which made...