#messier13

[blasteffect]

Messier 13, "The Hercules Cluster"

There's estimated to be around 300,000 - 500,000 stars in this cluster. These homies are only roughly 25k light years away from us and span 150 light years across. They're very close to us in galactic terms. As made obvious by its nickname, they hang out in the Hercules constellation.

Courtesy: Snore

[wonders-of-the-cosmos]

In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is but a little Patch, but it shews itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Telescopic views reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. Along with the cluster's dense core, the outer reaches of M13 are highlighted in this sharp color image. The cluster's evolved red and blue giant stars show up in yellowish and blue tints. 

Image Credit: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona

[kuiperkat]

Last night while deep sky hunting, I managed to spot M13, the Great Globular Cluster in the constellation Hercules. Fighting some less than perfect conditions (clouds that were determined to stay put, ambient glow from the city, a burgeoning stomach bug), I snapped this by hand. But with the field being dark, and my phone brightness cranked waaaay down, I didn’t know if I actually got anything - until this afternoon. Taken with iPhone XR and Celestron 6SE. Heavily processed in PSExpress. #astrocelltography #Messier13 #GlobularCluster #Hercules #NewJersey (at Jenny Jump State Forest) https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3n-PKjUL2/?igshid=f17yc1jbiy8j

[johnlyngfr]

Messier-101 is called the Pinwheel Galaxy because of its appearance. It is a very distant 20 million light-years away.

Messier-13 is called the Great Cluster in Hercules. At 22,000 light years, it is relatively close-by in our own galaxy.

Both celestial objects were photographed from our terrace in Bordeaux France. M101 is a faint object and required two hours (24 x 5 minutes) of exposure. M13 is much brighter, and only required 16 minutes (16 x 1 minute).