Key facts
- Class
- XII
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Right ascension
- 23 08 26.7
- Declination
- −15 ° 36 ′ 39 ″
- Distance
- 24,500 kpc (80,000 × 10 ^ ly )
- Apparent dimensions v
- 4.2 ′
- Absolute magnitude
- 0.38 ± 0.04
- Metallicity
- [ Fe/H ] = -1.69 dex
- Estimated age
- 12 Gyr
- Other designations
- GCl 125, MWSC 3705
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- globular cluster
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Image
- NGC 7492 legacy dr10.jpg
Show 12 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- William Herschel
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 3705
- time of discovery or invention
- 1786-09-21
- apparent magnitude
- 11.560
- Commons category
- NGC 7492
- right ascension
- 347.111167
- declination
- -15.611472
- epoch
- J2000.0
- radial velocity
- -188.5
- metallicity
- -1.69
- right ascension component of proper motion
- 1.64
- declination component of proper motion
- -2.41
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
NGC 7492 is a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius. It was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel on September 20, 1786. It resides in the outskirts of the Milky Way, about 80,000 light-years away, more than twice the distance between the Sun and the center of the galaxy, and is a benchmark member of the outer galactic halo. The cluster is immersed in, but does not kinematically belong to, the Sagittarius Stream.
NGC 7492 possess a tidal tail 3.5 degrees long, embedded into an over-density of stars which may be the remnants of a disrupted dwarf galaxy. The shape of the cluster is flattened rather than spherical, likely due to dynamical interaction with the Milky Way.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “NGC 7492” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.