Messier 68

Messier 68 (M68) is about 33,600 light years from our solar system. But it has a very eccentric orbit that may take it up to 100,000 light years from the galactic center. Currently, M68 is approaching us at 252,000 miles per hour on its way to perigalacticon (what will be its closest point to the galactic center as it orbits our galaxy).

Globular clusters are ancient collections of stars that are gravitationally bound together in a spheroidal shape. Some are almost as old as the universe itself. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands of stars to millions of stars. The stars they house tend to be very old as well, because star formation inside the cluster has largely ceased. The formation of globular clusters is not well understood. Current research leans toward the idea that they formed from very dense molecular clouds in the early universe. Some larger globular clusters may once have been dwarf galaxies whose larger star populations were stripped away from the core by larger galaxies.

M68 Facts

Distance: 33,600 light years

Number of stars: 100,000+

Diameter: 106 light years

Age: 11.2 billion years