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Messier 75

This globular cluster holds roughly 400,000 stars.

Distance

67,500 light-years

Apparent Magnitude

8.6

constellation

Sagittarius

object type

Globular Cluster

A splotch of stars sits at the center of the image. Its bright-white core is filled with stars. White, yellow-orange, and blue stars dot the view beyond the bright core.
This image of Messier 75 was captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.
ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Ferraro et al.

​

This beautiful image features the globular star cluster M75. Pierre Méchain discovered M75 in August of 1780. Charles Messier observed the cluster in October 1780 and added it to his catalog after determining its position.

Located in the western part of Sagittarius, M75 has a magnitude of 8.6. The cluster holds some 400,000 stars and is surprisingly easy to see in binoculars and telescopes thanks to its extremely condensed center of stars. However, because of its compact nature, M75 looks very similar to a star when viewed in binoculars. Telescopes 10 inches across or larger should be able to resolve some of the stars in the cluster. September is the best month to observe M75.

Hubble image of M75
This Hubble image of M75 is a composite of observations taken in near-infrared and visible light using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and the Wide Field Camera 3. The image features the bright central core of M75 and its surrounding stars. The Hubble observations were made to help astronomers better understand the stellar populations in globular clusters and to investigate the clusters’ potential for harboring central, intermediate-mass black holes (with approximately one hundred to one million times the mass of our Sun).
NASA, ESA, STScI, and G. Piotto (Università degli Studi di Padova) and E. Noyola (Max Planck Institut für extraterrestrische Physik)

M75 is the most centrally concentrated globular cluster in Messier’s catalog, with the majority of its stars located in a large nucleus. Astronomers think M75 is around 13 billion years old and is located approximately 67,500 light-years away from Earth.

For more information about Hubble's observations of M75, see:

star chart showing location in night sky of M75
This star chart for M75 represents the view from mid-northern latitudes for the given month and time.
Image courtesy of Stellarium
star chart showing location in night sky of M75
This star chart for M75 represents the view from mid-southern latitudes for the given month and time.
Image courtesy of Stellarium

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