--- On Sun, 5/17/09, Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> wrote:
Recent research indicates that omega Cen may not be a true globular that formed with the Milky Way. Like M54 - the core of another captured galaxy remnant - the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, omega Cent may the stripped remnant of another galaxy that the Milky Way captured and cannibalized. See Hubble org article above. Based on motion studies of stars in omega Cen, it is thought there is a medium sized black hole at its center.
Kurt: We tend to draw boundry lines that really don't matter that much. I don't care if Pluto is a planet and I avoided the debate, but M54 not being a "real" globular cluster is at best a stretch. When some wanted to banish M54, Sue French said that even if we stole it, it's ours now. My take on the subject is this. How do we know that ALL Globulars aren't the cores of extinct dwarf galaxies? We don't. And Omega Centari has several internal populations of stars so that it's possible if not likely that it ate a few neighbors before being eaten itself. Many Globulars are old enough to predate the Milky Way to the point that they crowd the age of the universe. We don't know enough to draw boundry lines through the group. DT