Messier 28

Also known as M28

Globular cluster

AI overview

Messier 28 is a dense, spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravity, located about 18,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Astronomers study globular clusters like this one to better understand the early history of our galaxy and the properties of old stars.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Class: IV
Constellation: Sagittarius
Right ascension: 18 24 32.89
Declination: –24 ° 52 ′ 11.4 ″
Distance: 18.26 ± 0.98 kly (5.6 ± 0.3 kpc )
Apparent dimensions v: 11′.2
Mass: 5.51 × 10 M ☉
Radius: 30 ly
V hb: 15.55 ± 0.10
Metallicity: [ Fe/H ] = –1.32 dex
Estimated age: 12.0 Gyr
Notable features: Contains first pulsar discovered in a globular
Other designations: GCl 94, M 28, NGC 6626

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: globular cluster
Part of: Milky Way
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance from Earth: 17900
Radius: 30
Image: Messier 28 HST11615 02R814GB390asinh.png

Show 15 more facts

Commons category: Messier 28
catalog code: [KPS2012] MWSC 2908
discoverer or inventor: Charles Messier
metallicity: -1.21
time of discovery or invention: 1764-07-27
Commons gallery: Messier 28
radial velocity: 1.0
apparent magnitude: 5.424
absolute magnitude: -8.16
spectral class: IV
right ascension: 276.137042
declination: -24.869833
epoch: J2000.0
right ascension component of proper motion: 0.630
declination component of proper motion: -8.460

Sources (2)

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Encyclopedic overview

Messier 28 or M28, also known as NGC 6626, is a globular cluster of stars in the center-west of Sagittarius. It was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764. He briefly described it as a "nebula containing no star... round, seen with difficulty in 3 1⁄2-foot telescope; Diam 2′."

Location

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Messier 28” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.