Messier 13

cluster

Messier 13 — the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, ~22,000 light-years away, several hundred thousand stars in a sphere ~145 light-years across. The 1974 Arecibo Message was beamed toward it.

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Science

Classification

Type: Globular star cluster
Distance: ~22,000 light-years
Diameter: ~145 light-years
Age: ~11.6 billion years

How we know

Note: A real Hubble image at M13's real position; ~145 ly across, shown enlarged as a marker, as seen from Earth.

Discovery & history

Name: Messier's 13th catalogue entry; the 'Hercules Cluster' for its constellation.

Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714 ('a little patch, but it shows itself to the naked eye when the sky is serene'); catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764.

Images

Messier 13 — the Great Hercules Cluster (Hubble) — NASA, ESA & the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image