Omega Centauri, NGC5139 in Centaurus on June 19, 2026.

This is Omega Centauri, NGC 5139 in the southern constellation Centaurus. It’s the largest and brightest globular cluster associated with our Milky Way galaxy. It’s located about 17,000 light years out, 150 light years across and contains roughly 10 million stars. All of the stars in this cluster are 10-12 billion years old and that means Omega Centauri is a fossil remnant of the Milky Way itself. This object only gets 9 degrees above my the southern horizon here in the DFW area. I was able to catch it at it’s best in late spring. I did have to move my S30 around in the yard several times to find a gap in the trees and recalibrate my polar/EQ alignment to make this image work.