Liller 1

Liller 1[2] is a globular cluster close to the centre of the Milky Way, only 3,200 light years from the centre. It is heavily obscured by dust, being close to the galactic plane. Liller 1 is just under 30,000 light years from Earth. It has a mass of around 1.5 million solar masses. It has the highest level of emission of gamma rays of any globular cluster. This may be due to a large number of stellar collisions and pulsars.[3]

Liller 1
Liller 1 image from 2MASS
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationSagittarius
Right ascension 17h 33m 24.5s[1]
Declination−33° 23 20[1]
Distance30,000
Apparent dimensions (V)22″ (half-mass diameter)
Physical characteristics
Mass~1.5×106 M
Metallicity = -0.36 dex
Other designationsC1730-333, MXB1730-333, J173324.56-332319.8
Liller 1 photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope

The globular cluster contains the rapid burster called MXB 1730-335.[4]

References

  1. "C 1730-333". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
  2. Liller, W (1 April 1977). "Searches for the optical counterparts of the X-ray burst sources MXB 1728-34 and MXB 1730-33". Astrophysical Journal Letters. 213: L21-L23. Bibcode:1977ApJ...213L..21L. doi:10.1086/182401.
  3. Michaud, Peter. "Astronomers image rare stellar cluster Liller 1". PysOrg. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. Saracino, S. (2015). "GEMINI/GeMS observations unveil the structure of the heavily obscured globular cluster Liller 1". The Astrophysical Journal. 806 (2). arXiv:1505.00568. Bibcode:2015ApJ...806..152S. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/152.
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