NGC 6401

NGC 6401 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. William Herschel discovered this star cluster in 1784 with his 47 cm telescope, but mistakenly believed it to be a bright nebula. Later his son, John Herschel, was to make the same error because the technology of the day was insufficient to allow the individual stars to be resolved visually.

NGC 6401
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has used its powerful optics to separate the globular cluster NGC 6401 into its constituent stars. What was once only visible as a ghostly mist in the eyepieces of astronomical instruments has been transformed into a stellar landscape.
Credit: HST/NASA/ESA
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationOphiuchus
Right ascension17h 38m 36.93s
Declination−23° 54 31.5
Distance24.450
Apparent magnitude (V)7.40
Apparent dimensions (V)4.8'
Physical characteristics
Other designationsESO 520-SC011, GCL 73, H I-44, h 1982, h 3697, GC 4314

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.