May 11
The Specter Cluster, M55 // Ian Parr
seen from Georgia
seen from Brazil
seen from Germany
seen from Nigeria
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
The Specter Cluster, M55 // Ian Parr
The Specter Cluster, M55 // Marius
The Specter Cluster, M55 // Jeff Parke
The Specter Cluster, M55 // Charles Martin
The Specter Cluster, M55 // Jim Fordice
The Specter Cluster lies about 17,600 light years from Earth and contains about 100,000 stars. It was originally discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713-1762) in 1752 while observing from South Africa. Messier knew about this cluster, but its southern position meant that it rarely rose above the horizon in Paris. Messier starting looking for it in 1754, but did not find it for 24 years until 1778! Perhaps that's why it is a specter!