It's Full of Stars! Globular Cluster Sparkles in Cosmic Photo

Globular Cluster Messier 5 Block — Adam Block took this image of globular star cluster Messier 5 at Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, University of Arizona in March, 2012. Block used a SBIG STX CCD Camera, 32-inch Schulman Telescope (RC Optical Systems) and AstroDon Gen II filters. (Image credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona www.caelumobservatory.com)

The cluster of roughly 100,000 stars known as Messier 5 glows in this brilliant night sky photo.

This stunning image was taken by Adam Block at Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, University of Arizona in March, 2012. He used a SBIG STX CCD Camera, 32-inch Schulman Telescope (RC Optical Systems) and AstroDon Gen II filters.

Messier 5, also known as M5, rests approximately 25,000 light-years away from Earth. Gravity pulls together the more than an estimated 100,000 stars that make M5, forming a diameter of approximately 165 light-years. A light-year is the distance that light can travel in a year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).

Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

You can follow SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.