Globular cluster
M 72 (NGC 6981)
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. Its metal abundance is 3.8 % of the Sun’s. Distance, brightness and structure come from the Harris catalogue.
| Type | Globular cluster |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquarius |
| Distance | 17,000 pc (55.4 thousand ly) |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | -1.42 |
| Half-light radius | 4.6 pc |
| Central concentration (c) | 1.21 |
| Radial velocity | -345.0 km/s |
| Source | Harris 1996 (2010) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 53m 27.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −12° 32′ 14″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 77° N. South of latitude 77° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in August, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 55 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 984 million years.