NGC 6769 Trio and the Great Peacock Cluster

Close and Faraway

In the foreground, the globular cluster NGC 6752 orbits around our Milky Way at a distance of 13.000 light-years. It is the 4th brightest globular cluster in the sky, visible to the naked eye on a dark sky. Its core is very bright compared to other globular clusters, due to a process called core collapse, where gravity increased the stellar density above the normal values. Being located in the constellation of Pavo (Peacock), it is nicknamed the Great Peacock Cluster.

In the background, several specks of light attract attention. It is a galactic group called NGC 6769 Triplet, which is in turn part of a larger group called IC 4845 Group, and which is scattered across the right side of this picture. The triplet is made of NGC 6769, NGC 6770 and NGC 6771, all spiral galaxies in various stages of evolution. NGC 6769 and NGC 6770 are in the initial stages of interaction and will most likely merge into a giant elliptical galaxy. The triplet is sometimes called The Devil’s Mask and is located at an average distance of 190 million light years (14615 times further than NGC 6752).