Dust-hidden Milky Way cluster dated to 13.4 billion years

Astronomers estimate that VVV CL001, a metal-poor globular cluster close to the centre of the Milky Way, is about 13.4 billion years old, placing it among the oldest known star clusters in our galaxy. Thick clouds of interstellar dust had long made its distance and age hard to pin down. The study has been accepted by the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.