Globular Cluster in Hercules
A favorite target at any summer star
party or public observing session is Messier 13. This is one of the brightest globular
clusters visible from the northern hemisphere, a dense ball of about 500,000
stars. The cluster can be just
glimpsed with the naked eye from dark skies, and it is easy to see with
binoculars as a small fuzzy patch. It is a great sight in telescopes of medium to large aperture.
| Magnitude | 5.8 |
| Apparent Size | 20' |
| Distance (light yrs) | 23,000 |
| Right Ascension | 16:41.7 |
| Declination | +36 28 |
| Field of View | 31' x 23' |
Image details: Exposure times of 51 minutes luminance and 21 minutes each of red, green and blue, taken with an SBIG STF-8300M imager and a 14" Meade LX850 telescope at f/5.5.
July 2023