“We found a large number of ‘orphaned’ globular clusters,” said Dr Michael West. “These clusters are no longer held within the gravitational grip of galaxies, and seem to be wandering freely through intergalactic space like cosmic vagabonds. New data from the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Telescope confirm our discovery, and are providing new insights to the origin of these objects.”
In some cases entire galaxies can be damaged or destroyed by violent collisions or by the collective gravitational pull from their galactic neighbors. This partial or complete destruction of their parent galaxies by gravitational forces from other passing galaxies spilled the orphaned globular star clusters into intergalactic space. Once in this deep void, they just look like tiny points of light in a vast sea of blackness. “Because they’re so far away these objects are very faint, almost a billion times fainter than the unaided human eye can see,” said Dr West. “Detecting such faint objects pushes the limits of even what the Hubble Space Telescope can do.”
Dr. West’s team published preliminary findings about its discovery in April this year, and is presenting new results at the International Astronomical Union’s 25th General Assembly, being held in Sydney, Australia. Their research continues.