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With the world on the cusp of passing 1.5°C of warming, scientists are turning their attention to defining a new limit for temperature rises – but not everyone agrees that we should

Why do computers only work with the numbers 0 and 1? There are machines that process three digits with more efficiency than you might expect

Workers from within NASA will protest the space agency leadership's "preemptive over-compliance" of the White House's proposed budget, gutting science and eliminating jobs.

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Hubble Digs Up Galactic Time Capsule This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular cluster NGC 1786.ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Monelli; Acknowledgment: M. H. Özsaraç

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the field of stars that is NGC 1786. The globular cluster is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy that is approximately 160,000 light-years away from Earth. NGC 1786 itself is in the constellation Dorado. It was discovered in the year 1835 by Sir John Herschel.

The data for this image comes from an observing program that compares old globular clusters in nearby dwarf galaxies — the LMC, the Small Magellanic Cloud, and the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy — to globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy contains over 150 of these old, spherical collections of tightly-bound stars, which astronomers have studied in depth — especially with Hubble images like this one, which show them in previously unattainable detail. Being very stable and long-lived, globular clusters act as galactic time capsules, preserving stars from the earliest stages of a galaxy’s formation.

Astronomers once thought that stars in a globular cluster all formed together at about the same time, but the study of old globular clusters in our galaxy uncovered multiple populations of stars with different ages. To use globular clusters as historical markers, we must understand how they form and where these stars of varying ages come from. This observing program examined old globular clusters like NGC 1786 in these external galaxies to see if they, too, contain multiple populations of stars. This research can tell us more about how the LMC originally formed, but also the Milky Way Galaxy, too.

Text Credit: ESA/Hubble

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Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

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Details Last Updated Jul 18, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms

• Hubble Space Telescope
• Astrophysics
• Astrophysics Division
• Globular Clusters
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Star Clusters
• Stars
• The Universe

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble’s Star Clusters

Science Behind the Discoveries

Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge

Explore Hubble

• Hubble Home
• Overview
• Impact & Benefits
• Science
• Observatory
• Team
• Multimedia
• News
• More

2 min read

Hubble Digs Up Galactic Time Capsule This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular cluster NGC 1786.ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Monelli; Acknowledgment: M. H. Özsaraç

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the field of stars that is NGC 1786. The globular cluster is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy that is approximately 160,000 light-years away from Earth. NGC 1786 itself is in the constellation Dorado. It was discovered in the year 1835 by Sir John Herschel.

The data for this image comes from an observing program that compares old globular clusters in nearby dwarf galaxies — the LMC, the Small Magellanic Cloud, and the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy — to globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy contains over 150 of these old, spherical collections of tightly-bound stars, which astronomers have studied in depth — especially with Hubble images like this one, which show them in previously unattainable detail. Being very stable and long-lived, globular clusters act as galactic time capsules, preserving stars from the earliest stages of a galaxy’s formation.

Astronomers once thought that stars in a globular cluster all formed together at about the same time, but the study of old globular clusters in our galaxy uncovered multiple populations of stars with different ages. To use globular clusters as historical markers, we must understand how they form and where these stars of varying ages come from. This observing program examined old globular clusters like NGC 1786 in these external galaxies to see if they, too, contain multiple populations of stars. This research can tell us more about how the LMC originally formed, but also the Milky Way Galaxy, too.

Text Credit: ESA/Hubble

Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Share

Details Last Updated Jul 18, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms

• Hubble Space Telescope
• Astrophysics
• Astrophysics Division
• Globular Clusters
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Star Clusters
• Stars
• The Universe

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble’s Star Clusters

Science Behind the Discoveries

Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge

Dr Korby once crossed paths with Kirk's Enterprise, though he was a very different man at the time…

It’s certainly possible to consume water sourced from the icy rings of Saturn, but doing so safely may require extra steps

When the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) flew past our Moon in August 2024, its Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) instrument listened to radio wave echoes to reveal the height of the lunar surface.

Dropout.tv’s Brennan Lee Mulligan talks about the emotional and cultural importance of Dungeons and Dragons.

A massive doomed exoplanet on a death spiral toward its parent star has three possible catastrophic fates.

Small, compact galaxies seen in the early universe have puzzled astronomers – finding these unusual objects closer to home could provide hints about how they form

Small, compact galaxies seen in the early universe have puzzled astronomers – finding these unusual objects closer to home could provide hints about how they form

As the Sun set, a bright Full Moon rose on July 10.

Image: This image from Copernicus Sentinel-1 shows circular agricultural structures near Tabarjal, in the barren desert of northern Saudi Arabia.

A rush to build more energy infrastructure is driven in part by inflated estimates of US data centre growth. That means households and small businesses could face higher electricity bills – even if AI demand falters

A rush to build more energy infrastructure is driven in part by inflated estimates of US data centre growth. That means households and small businesses could face higher electricity bills – even if AI demand falters

A wave of anti-vaccine sentiment has spurred measles outbreaks around the world, and could lead to outbreaks of other preventable illnesses

A wave of anti-vaccine sentiment has spurred measles outbreaks around the world, and could lead to outbreaks of other preventable illnesses

After photographs showed President Donald Trump with swollen ankles and bruised hands, the White House revealed he has chronic venous insufficiency—a blood vessel disease that affects circulation in the legs

Superman is full of awesome sci-fi elements, but the most fascinating one might be Lex Luthor's pocket dimension. How does that even work?