File:Messier_14.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Messier 14 is a dense, spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravity, located about 30,000 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. Globular clusters like this one help astronomers understand the early history of our galaxy and the life cycles of stars.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- globular cluster
- Part of
- Milky Way
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 30300
- Radius
- 50
- Image
- M14HunterWilson.jpg
Show 15 more facts
- Commons category
- Messier 14
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 2643
- discoverer or inventor
- Charles Messier
- metallicity
- -1.28
- spectral class
- VIII
- time of discovery or invention
- 1764-06-01
- Commons gallery
- Messier 14
- apparent magnitude
- 6.203
- radial velocity
- -111.1
- absolute magnitude
- -9.1
- right ascension
- 264.400625
- declination
- -3.245917
- epoch
- J2000.0
- right ascension component of proper motion
- -3.26
- declination component of proper motion
- -2.60
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Encyclopedic overview
Messier 14 (also known as M14 or NGC 6402) is a globular cluster of stars in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.
At a distance of about 30,000 light-years, M14 contains several hundred thousand stars. At an apparent magnitude of +7.6 it can be easily observed with binoculars. Medium-sized telescopes will show some hint of the individual stars of which the brightest is of magnitude +14.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Messier 14” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.