Scientists have been observing globular clusters for years. Early astronomers, such as Charles Messier, recorded their sightings before they even knew what they were. Today, globular clusters are extremely important, helping us answer questions about the origins of our galaxy and the age of the universe. 
    Globular clusters formed around the time of the birth of the Milky Way, condensing from the spher-
ical gas cloud that later flattened
into the galaxy’s rotating disk. Because they formed before the galactic disk, globular clusters are spherically distributed around the center of our galaxy and orbit along many different axes, ranging from almost perpendicular to parallel with the plane of the Milky Way;