MESSIER 62

Globular Cluster in OPHIUCHUS    

(Image centered at: ra 17h:01 m / dec - 30º 07')

September 2021, Home Backyard in Martínez, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Globular Cluster

VISUAL BRIGHTNESS: 6.6

OBJECT SIZE: 14,1 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 22,000 light years

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: 8" ORION OPTICS UK (Ultra Grade Optics) w/Televue Paracorr working at at f5,75

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

MOUNT: SKY WATCHER NEQ6

FILTERS: Baader LRGB Set

SKY CONDITIONS: urban skies

EXPOSURES: LRGB (40,40,40,40)

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

M62 is known for being one of the most irregularly shaped globular clusters in our galaxy. This might be because it is one of the closest globular clusters to the center of our galaxy and is affected by galactic tidal forces, displacing many of the cluster’s stars toward the southeast. M62 has an extremely dense core of 150,000 stars. In 2013, astronomers discovered a stellar-mass black hole in M62, one of the first to ever be found in a globular cluster. According to observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, M62 also contains a large number of X-ray binaries, which formed in close encounters between stars in the cluster.

Charles Messier discovered M62 in 1771. The globular cluster is almost 12 billion years old. M62 has a magnitude of 6.6 and is located in the constellation Ophiuchus, approximately 22,200 light-years away from Earth. Best observed in July, the cluster is easily found southeast of the bright star Antares and can be seen as a hazy patch with binoculars. Small telescopes reveal a comet-like shape, while telescopes 8 inches or larger will resolve more stars. (*)

(*) Text from NASA