Globular cluster
M 92 (NGC 6341)
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 0.5 % of the Sun’s. Distance, brightness and structure come from the Harris catalogue.
| Type | Globular cluster |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Hercules |
| Distance | 8,300 pc (27.1 thousand ly) |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | -2.31 |
| Half-light radius | 2.5 pc |
| Central concentration (c) | 1.68 |
| Radial velocity | -120.0 km/s |
| Source | Harris 1996 (2010) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 17m 07.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +43° 08′ 09″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 47° S. North of latitude 47° N 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 27 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 480 million years.