#messier53

Blue Straggler Stars in Globular Cluster M53 

Messier 53

Messier 53 is a globular star cluster located about 60,000 light years away towards the constellation Coma Berenices. Globular clusters are a type of star cluster containing tens of thousands of stars bound together by gravity. They’re typically found on the edges of galaxies, and over 150 are found in the Milky Way alone.

Globular star clusters are older and larger than open star clusters, and usually contain stars born around the same time. Usually, this means the clusters contain more old, red stars. Messier 53 is unusual for its high number of blue stragglers, a type of rejuvenated star that appears bluer and brighter than its age would suggest. It’s thought that this may be the result of stellar collisions in the dense core of globular clusters.