Messier 5

cluster

Messier 5 — one of the older (~13 billion years) and larger globular clusters, ~24,500 light-years away in Serpens, with over 100,000 stars and many known variable stars.

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Science

Classification

Type: Globular star cluster
Distance: ~24,500 light-years
Diameter: ~165 light-years
Age: ~13 billion years

How we know

Note: A real Hubble image at M5's real position; ~165 ly across, shown enlarged as a marker, as seen from Earth.

Discovery & history

Name: Messier's 5th catalogue entry.

Discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1702; resolved into stars by William Herschel in 1791; Messier catalogued it in 1764.

Images

Messier 5 — a large, ancient globular cluster in Serpens (Hubble) — ESA/Hubble & NASA (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image