Andromeda
Log inJoin

Globular cluster

Messier 80

Also M80 · NGC 6093

Open in OuranosCompare its size

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

Measured

Distance
33,720 light-years
Size
about 88 light-years across (approximate)
Constellation
Scorpius
Position (J2000)
RA 16h 17m 02s, Dec −22.98°

How far, from the Sun

33,700 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light33,700 years
  • Voyager 1's speed599 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h364 billion years

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

Facts

  • In 1860 a nova, T Scorpii, flared inside it and briefly outshone the whole cluster.
  • It holds about 321,000 times the Sun's mass in stars (Baumgardt's globular cluster database).

Where this comes from

  • Baumgardt & Vasiliev 2021, MNRAS 505, 5957 (10.34 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.