Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Pegasus (Peg)  ·  Contains:  M 15  ·  NGC 7078
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M15 The Great Pegasus Cluster, Dale A Chamberlain
M15 The Great Pegasus Cluster
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M15 The Great Pegasus Cluster, Dale A Chamberlain
M15 The Great Pegasus Cluster
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Description

The Great Pegasus Cluster or Messier 15 or M15 (also designated NGC 7078) is a globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 and included in Charles Messier's catalog of comet-like objects in 1764. At an estimated 12.5 billion years old, it is one of the oldest known globular clusters.

M 15 is about 35,700 light-years from Earth, and 175 light-years in diameter. It has an absolute magnitude of −9.2, which translates to a total luminosity of 360,000 times that of the Sun. Messier 15 is one of the most densely packed globular clusters known in the Milky Way galaxy. Its core has undergone a contraction known as "core collapse" and it has a central density cusp with an enormous number of stars surrounding what may be a central black hole.

Home to over 100,000 stars, the cluster is notable for containing many variable stars (112) and pulsars (8), including one double neutron star system, M15-C. It also contains Pease 1, the first planetary nebula discovered within a globular cluster in 1928. Just three others have been found in globular clusters since then. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

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