Globular Cluster M5
A globular cluster in the constellation Serpens. It's one of the brighter globular clusters, visible with binoculars.
Globular cluster in Serpens. Magnitude 5.9.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 85° above the southern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 89°, almost straight overhead. It is highest at midnight on the night of 9 May, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
- Your eyes: Visible to the eye only from a dark site, as a fuzzy star; lost in city skies.
- 10x50 binoculars: A round glow, brighter towards the middle.
- A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): A bright ball; at 100x its edge turns grainy and starts to resolve under dark skies.
- A camera: Spans about 40% of an APS-C frame at 2,000 mm (field 0.7° × 0.4°); needs a tracking mount.
How big, how bright, how far
- Size on the sky: 17′, 55% of the Moon's width (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
- Brightness: magnitude 5.9. Fainter than Georgetown's faintest stars (4.3) but brighter than Lethem's (6.0).
- Distance: 24,500 light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 25,000 years ago.
What it is made of
- Type
- Globular Cluster
- Distance
- Approx. 24,500 Lightyears
- True size
- Approx. 165 Lightyears diameter
- Old Stars (Hundreds of Thousands): One of the oldest known globular clusters
- Variable Stars: Over 100 known, mostly RR Lyrae type
More deep-sky objects: Globular Cluster M4 · Globular Cluster M3 · Hercules Globular Cluster (M13) · Eagle Nebula (M16) · Butterfly Cluster (M6) · Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111)