The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed many star clusters. As well as being scientifically interesting, these clusters produce stunning images, appearing like sparkling baubles in the sky.

This episode of the Hubblecast looks at how Hubble has studied and imaged these beautiful objects, also introducing a striking new image of Messier 15, one of the oldest globular clusters in our skies. This is the best ever image of this cluster, which contains over 100 000 stars, a planetary nebula known as Pease 1 (otherwise named PN Ku 648 or Kürster 648), and something more exotic: at its core, it is thought to host a rare type of black hole.

More information and download options:
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic1321a/

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Credit: ESA/Hubble

Directed by: Nicola Guttridge
Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser
Written by: Nicola Guttridge
Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa
Images: ESA/Hubble and NASA;
View of the Milky Way: Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)/ESO/MPE/VISTA/J. Emerson/Digitized Sky Survey 2
Animations: M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada, L. L. Christensen
Music: Zero Project and ccMixter (ccmixter.org)
Web and technical support: Mathias Andre and Raquel Yumi Shida
Cinematography: Peter Rixner (www.perix.de)
Executive producer: Lars Lindberg Christensen