Globular cluster

Messier 75

Also M75 · NGC 6864

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

Measured

Distance
66,930 light-years
Constellation
Sagittarius
Position (J2000)
RA 20h 06m 05s, Dec −21.92°

How far, from the Sun

66,900 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light66,900 years
  • Voyager 1's speed1.19 billion years
  • Driving at 100 km/h722 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 most densely packed globular clusters known.
  • It holds about 459,000 times the Sun's mass in stars (Baumgardt's globular cluster database).

Where this comes from

  • Baumgardt & Vasiliev 2021, MNRAS 505, 5957 (20.52 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.