Hopi Star Swarm

A prehistoric Hopi pot is showered with a swarm of stars from a globular cluster 28.000 light years from Earth.

M80 (NGC 6093) is one of the densest star clusters known, created about 11 billion years ago. It is held together by mutual gravitational attraction. Every star is older, more developed, and in most cases larger than our own sun. The bright red giants are nearing the end of their life cycle. (PR99-26: NASA, Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA.)

This ancient pot from the Chevelon area of eastern Arizona was featured in the Journal of the Bureau of American Ethnology around 1900. This lithograph resides in a private collection detached from the bound volumes. Its color may not be an accurate rendition of the artifact. The Hopi were extensively studied and reported on by scientists during this period as a unique and vibrant Native American society.

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