File:Globular_cluster_Messier_9_(captured_by_the_Hubble_Space_Telescope).tif · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Messier 9 is a dense, spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravity, located about 25,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. It's one of the closest globular clusters to our galaxy's center, making it valuable for astronomers studying the structure and history of the Milky Way.
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Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 25800
- Radius
- 45
- Image
- Messier 9 Hubble WikiSky wfpc2 patched.jpg
Show 13 more facts
- Commons category
- Messier 9
- time of discovery or invention
- 1764-05-28
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 2567
- Commons gallery
- Messier 9
- apparent magnitude
- 6.676
- radial velocity
- 224.0
- absolute magnitude
- -7.95
- metallicity
- -1.65
- spectral class
- VIII
- right ascension
- 259.799083
- declination
- -18.516250
- right ascension component of proper motion
- -0.57
- declination component of proper motion
- -3.70
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Article
Messier 9 or M9 (also designated NGC 6333) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is positioned in the southern part of the constellation to the southwest of Eta Ophiuchi, and lies atop a dark cloud of dust designated Barnard 64. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on June 3, 1764, who described it as a "nebula without stars". In 1783, English astronomer William Herschel was able to use his reflector to resolve individual stars within the cluster. He estimated the cluster to be 7–8′ in diameter with stars densely packed near the center.
M9 has an apparent magnitude of 7.9, an angular size of 9.3′, and can be viewed with a small telescope. It is one of the nearer globular clusters to the center of the galaxy as is around 5,500 light-years from the Galactic Center. Its distance from Earth is 25,800 light-years.