A Deepscape: From Earth To Omega Centauri

A totally dark and transparent sky on high altitudes of Uludag National Park provided the photographer an opportunity to capture the Omega Century star cluster a few degrees above the horizon in a single exposure photo through an ultrafast 200 mm f/1.8 Canon lens. His first attempt to capture this scene was in 2008.

Omega Centauri is a globular cluster in the southern constellation of Centaurus which is visible from low-mid latitudes in northern hemisphere too, but it keeps close to the horizon. It is visible to unaided eyes and therefore named like a star in the past and first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677. Located at a distance of 15,800 light-years, it is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way and contains about 10 million stars and considered to have an alternative origin as the core remnant of a dwarf galaxy which is swallowed by the Milky Way.