Globular cluster 47 Tucanae
author: ESO/Novapix
reference: a-agb01-04004
Image Size 300 DPI: 17 * 17 cm
47 Tucanae is an impressive globular cluster that is visible with the unaided eye from the southern hemisphere. Located about 16 000 light years away, it has a total mass of about 1 million times the mass of the Sun and is 120 light years across, making it appear on the sky as big as the full moon. The colour image of 47 Tucanae shown here was taken with FORS1 on ESO's Very Large Telescope in 2001. The image covers only the densest, very central part of the cluster. The globular cluster extends in reality four times further away!