After a long break from astroimaging, I’m delighted to share first light from our new SkyFlux Team remote rig in the southern skies, hosted by Remote Astrophotography with Martin Pugh.

I’m pleased to share that this image is now featured on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day - July 26, 2025!

Omega Centauri is the largest and brightest globular cluster in our Milky Way galaxy, located about 17,000 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. It’s a true showpiece of the southern sky, visible to the naked eye under dark skies and spanning more than 150 light-years across, making it both larger and more massive than most other globular clusters.

Containing an estimated 10 million stars, Omega Centauri is so dense that its core packs tens of thousands of stars within a few light-years, creating the brilliant swarm you see here. Recent studies suggest it might be the remnant core of a small dwarf galaxy long ago cannibalized by the Milky Way.

Intriguingly, evidence suggests that Omega Centauri may not be a typical globular cluster at all, it is likely the remnant core of an ancient dwarf galaxy that was captured and gradually disrupted by the Milky Way long ago. Its unusually complex stellar populations and spread of ages support this idea, making it a living fossil of galactic evolution.

Imaging Omega Centauri reveals its incredible population of old stars, with subtle differences in color indicating their varying temperatures and evolutionary stages. This portrait captures the cluster’s dense core and the gradual thinning of stars into the surrounding halo, a window into one of our galaxy’s ancient building blocks.

Data: SkyFlux Team @ Remote Astrophotography with Martin Pugh
SkyFlux Team: Michael Kalika, Oleg Shargorodsky, Leo Shatz
Processing: Leo Shatz
Total integration time: 2.83 hours (unguided)

If someone is interested - I'm seeking partner for remote observatory setup using my Takahashi FSQ130-ED & AP Mach1