Globular cluster
M 9 (NGC 6333)
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 1.7 % of the Sun’s. Distance, brightness and structure come from the Harris catalogue.
| Type | Globular cluster |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Distance | 7,900 pc (25.8 thousand ly) |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | -1.77 |
| Half-light radius | 2.2 pc |
| Central concentration (c) | 1.25 |
| Radial velocity | 229.1 km/s |
| Source | Harris 1996 (2010) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 19m 11.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −18° 30′ 57″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 71° N. South of latitude 71° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in June, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 26 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 457 million years.