Globular clusters, often regarded as the most boring denizens of our galaxy, have just become a lot more interesting. Rogue, hot stars have been discovered inside them.
The tens of thousands of stars that make up each globular cluster were all thought to have formed at the same time, with exactly the same composition, from a single spherical cloud of gas. Then, two years ago, a hint of a rogue population of hot, helium-rich stars was detected in the largest known globular cluster, Omega Centauri. This cluster, however, is known to be exceptional. “I just thought, OK, the very weird…
