Stars aren't evenly distributed within the universe. Stars tend to cluster into groups which can be as large as tens of thousands. The groups of stars are tightly bound together by gravity and form a spherical shape with a dense core of stars in the center. Thousands of points of light are visible in different colors and represent stars of all ages.

The image of the week shared by scientists working with the Hubble Space Telescope shows a group of objects. This cluster is relatively close to Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus because it is located within our own galaxy.

The scattered stars of the globular cluster NGC 6355 are strewn across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
The scattered stars of the globular cluster NGC 6355 are strewn across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 6355 is a galactic globular cluster that resides in our Milky Way galaxy’s inner regions. It is less than 50,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. ESA/Hubble & NASA, E. Noyola, R. Cohen

Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 were used to take the picture. Water in the Earth's atmosphere distorts the readings of ground-based telescopes, making it hard to see individual stars within a cluster. Hubble is in space and is able to take more detailed pictures because it sits above the water Vapor.

Hubble is able to resolve individual stars in the crowded area toward the center of the image thanks to the dense, bright core of NGC 6355. Hubble is able to capture a globular cluster's stars in detail because of its unique vantage point above Earth's light-distorting atmosphere.

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