Scientists see into future using Hubble data

Chaotic systems such as the weather may be difficult to predict beyond the next few hours or days, but scientists claim they can see 10,000 years into the future of the Milky Way using data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope.

In particular, they have focused their attentions on Omega Centauri, a globular star cluster first noted 2,000 years ago by Ptolemy.

While the ancient astronomer thought of the celestial feature as a single star, there are actually almost ten million stars in the cluster, all tracing orbits around the same gravitational centre.

The European Space Agency explains the significance of the scientists looking ahead - rather than their usual method of working by seeing starlight from millions of years ago.

In particular, they are examining tiny variations in the "frenzied motion" of the stars in the cluster, on the hunt for a hidden black hole 10,000 times the size of our sun.

At a distance of around 5,000 parsecs from the Earth, light from Omega Centauri takes an estimated 17,000 years to span the distance between its source and our home planet.