Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Hercules (Her)  ·  Contains:  Hercules Globular Cluster  ·  M 13  ·  NGC 6205
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The Great Hercules Cluster, Doug Azwell
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The Great Hercules Cluster

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The Great Hercules Cluster, Doug Azwell
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The Great Hercules Cluster

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Description

The Great Hercules Nebula, also known as NGC 6205 in the New General Catalogue or M13 in the Messier list, is a very large and prominent globular cluster on the east side box shaped chest of Hercules in that constellation. It is fairly easy to see if you know how to find Hercules in the night sky. The object was discovered in 1714 by Edmond Halley and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764. Both men had been searching for comets at the time and both are famous for their contributions to the science of Astronomy in their own rights. This globular cluster is literally that a collection of many thousands of stars all gravitationally bound to one another. On occasion "globular stragglers" are kicked out of the inside of such clusters and into interstellar space due to the complex gravitational interactions within the cramped space. The stars in these objects are believed to form around the same time and are known to have similar content of metals which show up in their emission spectrum. This globular is around 22,000 light years away.

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The Great Hercules Cluster, Doug Azwell