Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)
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Arp 2 Globular Cluster, Gary Imm
Arp 2 Globular Cluster, Gary Imm

Arp 2 Globular Cluster

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Arp 2 Globular Cluster, Gary Imm
Arp 2 Globular Cluster, Gary Imm

Arp 2 Globular Cluster

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Description

This object is an extragalactic globular cluster located 90,000 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius at a declination of -30 degrees.  This magnitude 12 cluster spans 3 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 90 light years.

The faint loose cluster is seen as the oblong group of small orange stars extending from upper left to lower right in the center of the image.  The brighter stars in the image are all foreground Milky Way stars.

Dr. Arp is best known for his peculiar galaxy catalog, but like most astronomers he had interest in all sorts of deep sky objects.  This object is one of 119 faint globular clusters that he published as a catalog in 1965.

Through analysis of the motions and compositions of its stars, scientists believe that this cluster did not originate in the Milky Way but instead was torn away from the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy long ago.

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