Astronomy:NGC 6540
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Short description: Globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius
Imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in August, 2022
| NGC 6540 | |
|---|---|
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Right ascension | 18h 06m 08.60s[1] |
| Declination | −27° 45′ 55.0″[1] |
| Distance | 17.3 kly (5.3 kpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 9.30[2] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Absolute magnitude | -6.35[2] |
| Radius | 4.75' x 4.75'[2] |
| Metallicity | [math]\displaystyle{ \begin{smallmatrix}\left[\ce{Fe}/\ce{H}\right]\end{smallmatrix} }[/math] = -1.35[3] dex |
| Other designations | Cr 364, Djorg 3, VDBH 258, C 1803-278[1] |
NGC 6540 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. Its apparent magnitude is 9.3[2] and its diameter is about 9.5 arcminutes, with 12 faint stars visible. It is about 17,000 light years away from Earth and was discovered by Wilhelm Herschel on May 24, 1784, with an 18.7-inch mirror telescope, who described the cluster as "pretty faint, not large, crookedly extended, easily resolvable".
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "NGC 6540". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=NGC+6540.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "NGC 6540". http://spider.seds.org/spider/MWGC/n6540.html.
- ↑ "A Galactic Globular Clusters Database: NGC 6540". http://gclusters.altervista.org/cluster_4.php?ggc=NGC+6540.
- Robert Burnham, Jr, Burnham's Celestial Handbook: An observer's guide to the universe beyond the solar system, vol 3, p. 1556
External links
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