NGC 104, also known as 47 Tucanae, is a prominent globular cluster located in the constellation Tucana in the southern sky. It is one of the largest globular clusters and the second brightest in the Milky Way galaxy, making it easily visible to the naked eye from dark locations.
First recorded in 1751 by Lacaille in his deep-sky catalogue, it was later identified as number "47" in Johann Elert Bode's catalogue who reorganized Lacaille's listed objects by constellation and Right Ascension, a number which is widely used still today.
47 Tucanae is distinguished by its compact and intensely bright core. With millions of stars concentrated in about 120 light-years of diameter, it is one of the most massive globular clusters in the galaxy. It is estimated to be about 11.5 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known globular clusters in the Milky Way.
Despite its proximity to the Small Magellanic Cloud, which appears adjacent to it in the sky, 47 Tucanae is over fifteen times closer.
Takahashi CCA250 (250/f5) - ZWO 6200MM - R (200m) G (240m) B (270m) - AMT Observatory (
A.Lau/M.Lorenzi/T.Tse), Río Hurtado, Chile.
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