NGC 6397

NGC 6397 is a globular cluster about 7000 light years from the Milky Way core. It is one of the at least 20 globulars of our Milky Way Galaxy which have undergone a core collapse, meaning that its core has contracted to a very dense stellar agglomeration.

Estimated to be nearly 12 billion years old, NGC 6397 has two different populations of stars; faint red dwarfs that fuse hydrogen in their cores, and white dwarfs, burned-out relics of normal stars.