Chandra Release - April 16, 2015

Visual Description: NGC 6388

This composite image of globular cluster NGC 6388 contains a bright pink-purple and white area in the center of the cluster, surrounded by many, many smaller stars and other celestial objects around it in mostly gold and white, with just a few in blue. The cluster of stars appears to be shaped like a dome, with the brighter purple center and piles of tiny jewels surrounding it on the dark canvas.  This image shows NGC 6388 with X-rays detected by Chandra in pink and visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope in red, green, and blue, with many of the stars appearing to be orange or white. Overlapping X-ray sources and stars near the center of the cluster also causes the image to appear white. Chandra's X-ray vision enabled the astronomers to determine that the X-rays from NGC 6388 were not coming from the putative black hole at the center of the cluster, but instead from a location slightly off to one side.