NGC 5286 (AKA DUNLOP 388)

 GLOBULAR CLUSTER IN CENTAURUS    

(Image centered at: ra 13 h:46 m / dec - 51º 22')

March 2022, Home Backyard in Martinez, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Globular Cluster

APPARENT DIAMETER: 9.1 arc minutes 

APPARENT MAGNITUDE (V): 7.6

DISTANCE: 38,100 light years

IMAGE INFORMATION

INSTRUMENT: 8" ORION OPTICS UK (Ultra Grade Optics) w/Sky Watcher Coma Corrector (0.9x) working at at f4.5

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

MOUNT: SKY WATCHER NEQ6, OAG with Starlight Xpress Lodestar

FILTERS: Baader LRGB Set

SKY CONDITIONS: urban skies - Bortle 8

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

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OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

NGC 5286 is a bright and relative small Globular Cluster that might be overlooked because it is located 5 degrees south east from the almighty Omega Centauri. This Globular may be one of the oldest globular clusters in the galaxy, with an estimated age of 12.54 billion years. It is not perfectly spherical, but has a projected ellipticity. Astronomers have hypothesized that NGC 5286 was a member of the “Gaia Sausage” — the remnants of a dwarf galaxy that is thought to have collided with the Milky Way between 8 million and 10 million years ago.

NGC 5286 can be seen with small telescopes. However, scattered light from the nearby 4.64 magnitude star M Centauri can interfere with observing the cluster.

It was discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop while he was observing in Australia.