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Globular cluster

Messier 72

Also M72 · NGC 6981

Open in OuranosCompare its size

A globular cluster: tens of thousands of very old stars in a tight ball, orbiting the Milky Way's centre.

Measured

Distance
54,340 light-years
Size
about 94 light-years across (approximate)
Constellation
Aquarius
Position (J2000)
RA 20h 53m 28s, Dec −12.54°

How far, from the Sun

54,300 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light54,300 years
  • Voyager 1's speed966 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h586 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is one of the fainter and more distant globulars in Messier's list.

How it was found

  • Pierre Méchain discovered it in 1780.

Where this comes from

  • Baumgardt & Vasiliev 2021, MNRAS 505, 5957 (16.66 kpc; the distances in public/sky/galaxy/globulars.json)
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.