Calling it a ‘festival of lights’, the agency explained that the image is of a globular cluster or ‘a densely-packed collection of colorful stars’, which is situated close to the heart of the Milky Way
While people were eagerly posting their pictures of the Diwali festivities on social media, one picture took away all the applause from the Internet. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) won hearts online after it shared a picture of a stunning cluster of stars.
Calling it a “festival of lights”, the agency explained that the image is of a globular cluster or “a densely-packed collection of colorful stars” which is situated close to the heart of the Milky Way”.
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1456409324524298254
The agency also said that the cluster, also called ESO 520-21 and Palomar 6, was captured by the NASA and European Space Agency’s Hubble Telescope. According to NASA, the colours of astronomical objects change as interstellar absorption affects certain wavelengths of light more than other, causing objects to appear redder than they really are.
The image went viral on social media, garnering over 8,900 likes and 1,600 retweets on Twitter. Many social media users were in awe of the photograph and thought that the stunning image was amazing.
Others mentioned that this was one picture they were actually waiting for.
Many people said that this was their favourite greeting of the entire festive season.
Several people got emotional on viewing the picture shared by NASA and said that the picture of the celestial phenomena dimmed all the fireworks present on Earth.
Some users also made references to the pollution caused by bursting of firecrackers that made it impossible to see clear skies in the cities.
NASA’s images have often captured the imagination of social media users. Recently, the agency shared the picture of the Helix Nebula on Halloween. The eerie image was captured by NASA’s Spitzer Space telescope and shows infrared radiation from the nebula, which is present in the constellation Aquarius, about 700 light-years away.
The image went viral on social media, with many users calling the picture “pretty” and “amazing”.