File:M72_Hubble_WikiSky.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
AI overview
Messier 72 is a spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of old stars located in the constellation Aquarius, about 55,000 light-years from Earth. It's one of the fainter globular clusters visible through telescopes and helps astronomers understand the structure and history of our galaxy.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Class
- IX
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Right ascension
- 20 53 27.70
- Declination
- –12 ° 32 ′ 14.3 ″
- Distance
- 54.57 ± 1.17 kly (16.73 ± 0.36 kpc )
- Apparent dimensions v
- 6.6'
- Mass
- 1.68 × 10 M ☉
- Metallicity
- [ Fe/H ] = –1.48 ± 0.03 dex
- Estimated age
- 9.5 Gyr
- Other designations
- NGC 6981, GCl 118
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 55500
- Image
- M72 Hubble WikiSky.jpg
Show 12 more facts
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 3419
- time of discovery or invention
- 1780-08-29
- Commons category
- Messier 72
- Commons gallery
- Messier 72
- radial velocity
- -288.8
- apparent magnitude
- 9.213
- absolute magnitude
- -7.04
- metallicity
- -1.48
- right ascension
- 313.365417
- declination
- -12.537306
- right ascension component of proper motion
- 2.25
- declination component of proper motion
- -5.69
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Article
Messier 72 (also known as M72 or NGC 6981) is a globular cluster in the south west of the southern constellation of Aquarius.
Observational history
Gallery (2)
Connections
list of stars in Aquarius
Entity
New General Catalogue
Entity
list of NGC objects (6001–7000)
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Messier object
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Lagoon Nebula
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Black Eye Galaxy
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epoch
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Little Dumbbell Nebula
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North America Nebula
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Q255174
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Veil Nebula
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NGC 6976
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Q1960538
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Sun
Concept
star
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year
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galaxy
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International Standard Book Number
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light-year
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constellation
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