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Globular Cluster M15
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.21h 29m 58s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.+12° 10' 00"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Pegasus
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.M15's distance to Earth is about 32,600 light-years (10 kiloparsecs). Its distance to the galactic center of the Milky Way is about 34,000 light-years (10.4 kiloparsecs).
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.The image is about 59 arcseconds (2.8 parsecs or 9.2 light-years) in the horizontal dimension. Mass of the black hole: 4,000 times the mass of the Sun. Mass of the globular cluster: 600,000 times the mass of the Sun
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.WFPC2 Data Principal Astronomers: H. E. Bond (STScI), D. R. Alves (Columbia Astrophysics Lab.), M. Livio, L. K. Fullton and K. G. Schaefer (STScI) STIS Data Principal Astronomers: R. Van Der Marel and J. Gerssen (STScI), K. Gebhardt (U. Texas at Austin), P. Guhathakurta and R. Peterson (UCO/Lick Observatory) and C. Pryor (Rutgers U.) - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>WFPC2 and HST>STIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.December 1998, Exposure Time: 3.7 hours (WFPC2), and October 1999, May-October 2001, Exposure Time: 16 hours (STIS)
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.WFPC2: F439W (B), F547M (Strömgren y), F502N ([O III]), F656N (H alpha), F814W (I) STIS: G430M
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.M15, NGC 7078
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Globular Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy
- Release DateSeptember 17, 2002
- Science ReleaseHubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
- Credits
Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.
Related Images & Videos
Black Holes Unexpectedly Discovered in Globular Clusters M15 and G1
These two globular star clusters, M15 and G1, harbor hundreds of thousands of stars. But deep within their dense cores is an unexpected guest: a class of intermediate-sized black holes. Black holes are invisible, but the probing eye of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope found them by...
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Details
Last Updated
Mar 14, 2025
Contact
Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
