Messier 53
Sign in to saveglobular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices
AI overview
Messier 53 is a dense, spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars located in the constellation Coma Berenices, about 58,000 light-years from Earth. Astronomers study globular clusters like this one to learn about the early history of our galaxy and the properties of very old stars.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Class
- V
- Constellation
- Coma Berenices
- Right ascension
- 13 12 55.25
- Declination
- +18 ° 10 ′ 05.4 ″
- Distance
- 5.8 × 10 ly (18 kpc )
- Apparent dimensions v
- 13.0′
- Mass
- 8.26 × 10 M ☉
- Metallicity
- [ Fe/H ] = –1.86 dex
- Estimated age
- 12.67 Gyr
- Other designations
- M53, NGC 5024, GCl 22, C 1310+184
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
Messier 53 (also known as M53 or NGC 5024) is a globular cluster in the Coma Berenices constellation. It was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1775. M53 is about 60,000 light-years (18.4 kpc) light-years away from the Galactic Center, and almost the same distance (about 58,000 light-years (17.9 kpc)) from the Solar System. The cluster has a diameter of about 12 parsecs.
M53 is a metal-poor cluster and at one time was thought to be the most metal-poor cluster in the Milky Way. Most of the red giant branch in the cluster are first-generation stars. That is, they did not form from gas recycled from previous generations of stars in the cluster. This differs from the majority of globular clusters that are more dominated by second generation stars. The second generation stars in NGC 5024 tend to be more concentrated in the core region. Overall, the stellar composition of cluster members is similar to members of the Milky Way halo.