how many globular clusters are in the milky way
Globular cluster Globular clusters are found in the halo of a galaxy and contain considerably more stars and are much older than the less dense open clusters, which are found in the disk of a galaxy. Globular clusters are fairly common; there are about 150[2] to 158[3] currently known globular clusters in the Milky Way, with perhaps 10 to 20 more still undiscovered.[4] Larger galaxies can have more: Andromeda Galaxy, for instance, may have as many as 500.[5] Some giant elliptical galaxies (particularly those at the centers of galaxy clusters), such as M87,[6] have as many as 13,000 globular clusters.
Milky Way Although the disk contains dust that obscures the view in some wavelengths, the halo component does not. Active star formation takes place in the disk (especially in the spiral arms, which represent areas of high density), but does not take place in the halo, as there is little gas cool enough to collapse into stars.[18] Open clusters are also located primarily in the disk.[133]
Milky Way Two smaller galaxies and a number of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group orbit the Milky Way. The largest of these is the Large Magellanic Cloud with a diameter of 14,000 light-years. It has a close companion, the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Magellanic Stream is a stream of neutral hydrogen gas extending from these two small galaxies across 100Â° of the sky. The stream is thought to have been dragged from the Magellanic Clouds in tidal interactions with the Milky Way.[176] Some of the dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way are Canis Major Dwarf (the closest), Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, Ursa Minor Dwarf, Sculptor Dwarf, Sextans Dwarf, Fornax Dwarf, and Leo I Dwarf. The smallest dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way are only 500 light-years in diameter. These include Carina Dwarf, Draco Dwarf, and Leo II Dwarf. There may still be undetected dwarf galaxies that are dynamically bound to the Milky Way, which is supported by the detection of nine new satellites of the Milky Way in a relatively small patch of the night sky in 2015.[177] There are also some dwarf galaxies that have already been absorbed by the Milky Way, such as Omega Centauri.[178]
Milky Way The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years (ly).[27][28][29] It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars.[30][31] There are probably at least 100 billion planets in the Milky Way.[32][33] The Solar System is located within the disk, 26,490 (± 100) light-years from the Galactic Center, on the inner edge of the Orion Arm, one of the spiral-shaped concentrations of gas and dust. The stars in the innermost 10,000 light-years form a bulge and one or more bars that radiate from the bulge. The galactic center is an intense radio source known as Sagittarius A*, likely a supermassive black hole of 4.100 (± 0.034) million solar masses.