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Date: July 26, 2015 - Location: Denton, Texas Telescope: ATRC12 - Camera: ST-10XME - Mount: MI-250 Guided using Innovations Foresight On Axis Guider (ONAG) Exposure: Luminance = 90 min. - R, G, & B = 30 min. each Click on the image to view at higher resolution. |
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Messier 56 (Also know as M56 or NGC 6779) is a globular cluster lying in the constellation of Lyra. It is approximately 32,900 light-years from the Earth. Spectroscopic studies of the stars making up the cluster reveal very low metallicity. (The abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium.) The age of the cluster has been estimated to be approximately 13.7 billion years. The cluster also follows a retrograde orbit through the Milky Way. These properties of M56 suggest it may have been acquired during the merger of a dwarf galaxy with the Milky Way. 1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_56
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