M2 (NGC7089) is a pretty bright ( 6.2 mag) Globular Cluster in the constellation of Aquarius. With the brightness at the border of beeing visible to the unaided eye,it is an easy object for even the smallest binoculars. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746, and is one of the largest known globular clusters (16´ diameter).W.Herschel first resolved it into single stars in 1783. It contains about 150.000 stars with a lot of variables including.
Its distance is about 37.500 light-years with a real diameter of 175 light-years. It is a very compact cluster and one of the oldest GCs in our Milky-way.
position:
RA: 21h 33m 27.02s
Decl.: –00° 49′ 23.7"
image data:
LRGB from L 8x1200s, RGB10x600s each, total integration time: 7.66 hours
80cm f/7 AstroOptik corrected Cassegrain, FLI Proline 16803, Baader Filters, Prompt 7 CTIO/UNC Chile, remote controlled
image processing: Bernd Flach-Wilken
this is a 95% view of the cameras CCD-field, click inside for full resolution
here you can see M2 at a picture taken with the HST