Globular cluster
GLIMPSE01
Globular cluster
A globular cluster of hundreds of thousands of old stars orbiting in the Galaxy’s halo: among the oldest objects of the Milky Way, about 12 billion years old. Distance, brightness and structure come from the Harris catalogue.
| Type | Globular cluster |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquila |
| Distance | 4,200 pc (13.7 thousand ly) |
| Half-light radius | 0.8 pc |
| Central concentration (c) | 1.37 |
| Source | Harris 1996 (2010) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 48m 49.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −1° 29′ 50″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 89° N. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 14 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 243 million years.