🔭 M9

Globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M9 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus, with an apparent magnitude of about 7.7, roughly 25.8 thousand light-years away.

Data

Catalogue designation	M9
Object type	Globular cluster
Constellation	Ophiuchus
NGC / IC	NGC 6333
Apparent magnitude	7.7
Distance (approx.)	25.8 thousand light-years

What a globular cluster is

A dense, spheroidal ball of hundreds of thousands of old stars orbiting a galaxy’s halo. Through a small telescope they look like fuzzy stars; in a large one they resolve into glittering swarms.

Other Messier objects in Ophiuchus: M10, M12, M14, M19, M62, M107.

Data: Messier catalogue & IAU constellations, via English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) · stored statically.