Globular cluster
NGC 5053
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 | Coma Berenices |
| Distance | 17,400 pc (56.8 thousand ly) |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | -2.27 |
| Half-light radius | 13.2 pc |
| Central concentration (c) | 0.74 |
| Radial velocity | 44.0 km/s |
| Source | Harris 1996 (2010) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 16m 27.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +17° 42′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 72° S. North of latitude 72° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 57 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 1.0 billion years.