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
- Instance of
- globular cluster
- Part of
- Milky Way
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Distance from Earth
- 55500
- Image
- M72 Hubble WikiSky.jpg
Show 14 more facts
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 3419
- time of discovery or invention
- 1780-08-29
- Commons category
- Messier 72
- discoverer or inventor
- Pierre Méchain
- 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
- epoch
- J2000.0
- right ascension component of proper motion
- 2.25
- declination component of proper motion
- -5.69
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Messier 72” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.