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Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Universe Uncovered Hubble’s Partners in Science Hubble & Citizen Science AI & Hubble Science Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Science Operations Astronaut Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts Multimedia Images Videos Online Activities e-Books Sonifications Podcasts 3D Hubble Models Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources 35th Anniversary More Online Activities 3 min read Hubble Spies Starry Chandelier This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular cluster NGC 6723, sometimes called the Chandelier Cluster. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini, G. Piotto The subject of today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is an ancient inhabitant of our galaxy. This sparkling scene features a globular cluster: a collection of tens of thousands to millions of stars, all tightly bound together under the influence of gravity. There are more than 150 globular clusters in our galaxy, though there may be others still undiscovered, hidden from view by dust or densely packed fields of stars. This globular cluster, NGC 6723, sometimes called the Chandelier Cluster, is much like its namesake because it sparkles with countless lights. However, each ‘lightbulb’ in this chandelier is an individual star 27,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius (the Archer). Globular clusters like NGC 6723 contain some of the oldest stars in our galaxy. These clusters have ages that often exceed 10 billion years old, and some are nearly as old as the universe itself. Astronomers think globular clusters are some of the first structures that formed in our galaxy, coalescing potentially billions of years before the thin disk of stars in which our Sun orbits. The details of how globular clusters formed, however, are not yet certain. Astronomers initially thought that all stars in a globular cluster formed at the same time in a single flourish of star formation. This would mean that all stars in a globular cluster would be the same age and made of the same mixture of chemical elements. Now, thanks to observations from telescopes like Hubble, researchers know that these seemingly simple stellar populations have more complex histories than originally thought. Hubble first observed NGC 6723 as part of an ambitious survey dedicated to demystifying the properties of globular clusters in our Milky Way galaxy. In this observing program (#10775, PI: Sarajedini), researchers used Hubble to study 65 globular clusters in our galaxy in visible and near-infrared light. That data allowed researchers to study everything from the ages of globular clusters to the process through which massive stars sink to the center of a star cluster and lower-mass stars drift toward the cluster outskirts. This survey has been immensely scientifically valuable, and these observations have inspired several hundred published research papers. In a later observing program (#13297, PI: Piotto), researchers set their sights again on many of these same clusters, including NGC 6723. This time, they used Hubble’s unique sensitivity to ultraviolet light to detect the subtle variations in chemical composition between the stars of globular clusters and determine the age spread among the clusters’ stars. For NGC 6723, researchers found evidence of two closely-spaced periods of star formation, the second occurring within 634 million years of the first. (‘Closely-spaced’ is relative; 634 million years is a blink of an eye for a star cluster that is more than 10 billion years old!) Thanks to these findings, astronomers are on the path to understanding how and when globular clusters formed — and Hubble observations of celestial chandeliers like NGC 6723 are lighting the way. Text Credit: ESA/Hubble Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire AndreoliNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MDclaire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jun 26, 2026 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA 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 Hubble e-Books Hubble’s Cosmic Adventure

Empires have shaped human history, often growing from a single city or cultural group into territories spanning continents.Some empires rose through conquest, and others grew through trade or shrewd alliances. Their borders, captured in maps described by historians or revealed by long-forgotten burials and artifacts, show just how far their influences once reached.Whether you’re a casual history fan or a devoted scholar of the ancient to modern world, this quiz offers a chance to test your knowledge of bygone empires and the lands they once ruled. Remember to log in to put your name on the leaderboard; hints are available if you click the yellow button! More science quizzes—Ancient Egypt quiz: Test your smarts about pyramids, hieroglyphs and King Tut—Roman emperor quiz: Test your knowledge of the rulers of the ancient empire—First Americans quiz: How much do you know about the first people to reach the Americas?

China's top-secret space plane just released another unknown object over Earth, raising concerns about exactly what the mysterious vehicle is up to. The clandestine spacecraft has now deployed at least nine payloads around our planet since 2022 — and we don't know what any of them really are. The Shenlong, or "divine dragon," space plane is a reusable, robotic spacecraft that China has repeatedly launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) on board vertical rockets, before reentering the atmosphere for a horizontal runway landing — similar to the iconic spacecraft from NASA's now-defunct Space Shuttle program. The space plane has never been photographed by otuisde nations, so we have no clear idea what it looks like or how large it is. Officials from China's space sector have yet to reveal any meaningful information about its design or purpose.Shenlong first launched into space on a two-day mission in September 2020, before completing an eight-month stint in LEO between August 2022 and May 2023, and a nine-month spaceflight between December 2023 and September 2024. It released its first payload shortly after the launch of its second mission and deployed seven more objects during its third mission, six of which were ejected simultaneously. The space plane's fourth and ongoing mission began on Feb. 7 when it launched atop a Long March 2F rocket that lifted off from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, according to Live Science's sister site Space.com. And to date, there has been no news of its current activities.American space exploration company LeoLabs was the first to detect the new object after it was deployed by the Shenlong space plane. (Image credit: LeoLabs)But on June 22, the private space surveillance firm LeoLabs, which specializes in tracking spacecraft in LEO, detected "an unknown object in the vicinity [of the spaceplane]," according to a post on X. The mystery payload was initially picked up by one of the company's radars in New Zealand and did not match any other object in the company's catalog.Later on the same day, LeoLabs representatives added in an update to the post that, following additional observations from across the company's radar network, they had "independently cataloged this object and assessed with high confidence that it was released from the Chinese space plane."On June 23, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and satellite tracking expert at Durham University in the U.K. and previously with the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, confirmed in another X post that the new object originated from Shenlong and was being tracked by the U.S. Space Force. McDowell also speculated that it could be a "cubesat" — a small, often box-like satellite frequently deployed as a secondary payload alongside larger spacecraft. However, as with the previously released objects, it is unclear what its purpose might be.Shenlong likely shares some key design aspects with the U.S. Space Force's X-37B space plane. (Image credit: U.S. Space Force)Space News previously reported that Shenlong's primary goal might be to conduct rendezvous and proximity operations with other spacecraft and that its payloads may be targets for it to practise flyby maneuvers in orbit. RELATED STORIESA secretive Chinese probe has just arrived at one of Earth's 'quasi-moons' and will soon attempt a first-of-its-kind landingGiant 'white streak' appears over multiple US states as Chinese rocket dumps experimental fuel in spaceCharred piece of secretive Chinese rocket found still smoldering in the Australian outbackOthers have speculated that the mystery objects could be covert surveillance satellites or possess anti-satellite weaponry, according to Gizmodo. However, to date, there have been no reports of any spacecraft being sabotaged by the space plane or its payloads.Shenlong has now spent nearly 700 cumulative days in LEO. During that time, amateur photographers snapped some blurry shots of light reflecting off the mysterious space plane. The most intriguing image, captured in August 2024, revealed a bright appendage extending from the main spacecraft. This was most likely a solar array, experts speculated, which is unsurprising considering that most spacecraft are at least partially powered by sunlight. China is not the only country with a secretive space plane. The U.S. also has its own version, the X-37B, whose two operational models have collectively spent more than 4,200 days in LEO since 2010. However, American officials have been much more forthcoming in revealing information about their space plane's design, mission parameters and research goals.