At a distance of around 300,000 lightyears, this globular cluster is so distant that it was thought not to be associated with our galaxy – and was given the name ‘the Intergalactic Wanderer’. However, this has been disproved, the cluster taking around 3 billion years to complete one orbit around the Milky Way.
Despite its great distance it is massive, containing almost a million solar masses within a diameter of around 500 lightyears.
This RGB image is the result of 3h25m of RGB data capture, taken over 2 evenings in January 2023 from Horsham. A ZWO ASI2600MM Pro monochrome camera was used, through an 8-inch Teleskop-Service Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain reflector.
Date: 30/01/2023
Location: Horsham, West Sussex, UK
Photographer: Graham Wilcock
