Key facts
- Class
- VI
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Right ascension
- 18 03 34.08
- Declination
- −30 ° 02 ′ 02.3 ″
- Distance
- 25.1 kly (7.7 kpc )
- Apparent dimensions v
- 9.4 ′
- Absolute magnitude
- −7.67
- Mass
- 5.93 × 10 M ☉
- Metallicity
- [ Fe/H ] = –1.34 dex
- Estimated age
- 12.0 Gyr
- Other designations
- GCl 82, C 1800-300
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 0.008
- Image
- N6522 32ins.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- metallicity
- -1.69
- time of discovery or invention
- 1784-06-24
- Commons category
- NGC 6522
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 2792
- apparent magnitude
- 10.68
- right ascension
- 270.892000
- declination
- -30.033972
- radial velocity
- -21.1
- right ascension component of proper motion
- 3.350
- declination component of proper motion
- -1.1900
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
NGC 6522 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Sagittarius. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on June 24, 1784. The cluster has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.3 and an angular diameter of 9.4′. It is located at a distance of 25.1 kly (7.7 kpc) from the Sun, and lies in the Milky Way's central bulge, about 2.0 kly (0.6 kpc) from the Galactic Center. The cluster is centered in a region of the sky known as Baade's Window. It is highly impacted by reddening due to interstellar dust and the view is heavily contaminated by field stars, making it more difficult to identify members.
NGC 6522 is possibly the oldest star cluster in the Milky Way, with an age of more than 12 billion years. It is a core collapsed cluster with a core radius of 0.5′ and a 1.0′ half-light radius. The cluster formed four billion years before the Milky Way galactic bar appeared, and may have been confined to the bar for a period of time. At present it trails the bar in its orbit around the core.