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MESSIER 69
GLOBULAR CLUSTER IN SAGITTARIUS (THE ARCHER)
(ra: 07h 18' 54"/ dec -19º 54')
CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION VIEW
August 2025, Home Backyard in Martinez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
DATA
TYPE: Globular Cluster
Visual Brightness: 8.3
APPARENT DIAMETER: 96 arc minutes
DISTANCE: 29700 light years
IMAGE INFORMATION
SCOPE: 6" ORION OPTICS UK (Ultra Grade Optics) w/Sky Watcher Coma Corrector (0.9x) working at at f4.5
CAMERA: QHY 183 MONO
MOUNT: KYWATCHER NEQ6, OAG with QHY 5II Mono
FILTERS: OPTOLONG LRGB Set
SKY CONDITIONS: Urban Skies, half Moon
EXPOSURES: LRGB (45,45,45,45) - all channels bin 1x1
OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION
Globular cluster Messier 69 (M69, NGC 6637), similar to its neighbor M70, is one of the smaller and fainter globular clusters in Messier's catalog. It was discovered by Charles Messier and added to his catalog on August 31, 1780, the same night he found M70. From Paris, which was Messier's observing place, it was a difficult object due its southern declination.
Messier 69 is one of the most metal-rich globular clusters ever observed. In astronomy, the term “metal” refers to any element heavier than the two most common elements in our universe, hydrogen and helium. The nuclear fusion that powers stars created many of the metallic elements in nature, from the calcium in our bones to the carbon in diamonds. New stars are made from the remains of their predecessors, so ancient globular clusters have much lower metallic abundances than more recently formed stars, such as the Sun. The stars in M69 have over ten times more iron than stars in other globular clusters of the same age. Studying the makeup of stars in globular clusters like M69 has helped astronomers trace back the evolution of star formation in the cosmos. This cluster was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. It is located 29,700 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.