For most observers, Omega Centauri is the most beautiful globular cluster of all. Around 10 million stars that, by cosmic standards, are crowded together in a diameter of only around 150 light years. But it is not only its size that distinguishes it from other globular clusters. It has different populations of stars that formed at different times. It could even be that Omega Centauri is something other than a globular cluster. Perhaps a remaining core of a small galaxy that was absorbed by our Milky Way a long time ago. Omega Centauri is the most luminous globular cluster with a magnitude of +3.9 and is visible to the naked eye at a distance of about 16,000 light years. It looks like a faint, fuzzy star, but its size and luminosity are impressive in any telescope. However, it is located far to the south of the celestial dome and is only visible south of 40 degrees north latitude.
This photo is a special one for us at the Meckesheim Observatory. It is the first deep sky photo taken remotely from Germany from our observatory in Rooisand, Namibia. After months of preparation, the CARPE NOCTEM REMOTE department set up this observatory in Rooisand in the first half of June 2024 and successfully put it into operation there. This observatory now gives us a wider view of the many beauties and objects in the southern starry sky that are difficult or impossible for us to see in the north. But our guests on star tours at the Meckesheim observatory can also observe one or two objects in the southern starry sky live under suitable conditions.