File:Messier_54_HST.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Messier 54 is a dense, spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of old stars held together by gravity. It's notable as one of the few globular clusters that orbits outside our Milky Way galaxy, making it valuable for studying how galaxies interact and how stars form in different cosmic environments.
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Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 0.03
- Radius
- 150
- Image
- Messier 54 HST.jpg
Show 13 more facts
- Commons category
- Messier 54
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 3023
- time of discovery or invention
- 1778-07-24
- Commons gallery
- Messier 54
- apparent magnitude
- 6.946
- radial velocity
- 141.9
- absolute magnitude
- -9.98
- metallicity
- -1.29
- spectral class
- III
- right ascension
- 283.763875
- declination
- -30.479861
- right ascension component of proper motion
- -3.75
- declination component of proper motion
- -7.76
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Article
Messier 54 (also known as M54 or NGC 6715) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1778 and then included in his catalog of objects that could be mistaken for comets.
It is easily found in the sky, being close to the star ζ Sagittarii. It is, however, not resolvable into individual stars even with larger amateur telescopes.