Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Hercules (Her)  ·  Contains:  Hercules Globular Cluster  ·  M 13  ·  NGC 6205  ·  NGC 6207
M13 - GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER, Emanuele La Barbera
M13 - GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER
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M13 - GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER

M13 - GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER, Emanuele La Barbera
M13 - GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER
Powered byPixInsight

M13 - GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER

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Description

The Globular Cluster of Hercules (also known and cataloged as M13 or NGC 6205) is a globular cluster visible in the constellation of Hercules.
27,100 light years away from Earth, it is the brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere, so much so that it is also visible to the naked eye under dark skies.
Globular clusters are a spherical set of gravitationally bound stars, usually very old and of low metallicity, which orbit around the galactic center.
With a diameter of 145 light years, M13 is composed of several hundreds of thousands of stars: to realize the stellar density, compared to the stars in the vicinity of the Sun, the stars of the M13 population are a hundred times denser. The components are so close to each other that they sometimes collide.
Several galaxies can be seen in the vicinity of the cluster. Particularly noteworthy is NGC 6207 which is a spiral galaxy about 30 million light years away.
M13 is a somewhat unusual target for short focal length refractors or telescopes with a modest aperture. This shot was also a test bed for the Taka (in the comments a photo with a crop on the cluster).

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