Description |
(Adapted
from Wikipedia) NGC
6752 is a globular
cluster in the constellation
Pavo. It is the third
brightest in the sky, after 47
Tucanae and Omega
Centauri, and is best seen
from June to October.
NGC
6752 was first identified by James
Dunlop of Parramatta on 30
June 1826, who described it as
an irregular bright nebula which
could be resolved into a cluster
of many stars, highly compressed
at the centre. This corresponds
with a core region densely
populated with stars around 1.3
light years in diameter, which
indicates it has undergone core
collapse. The cluster lies
around 13,000 light years
distant and is one of the closer
globular clusters to Earth. It
also lies 17,000 light years
away from the galactic centre. It
belongs to Shapley–Sawyer
Concentration Class VI,
namely of intermediate density, and
has been calculated to be 11.78 billion
years old. There are a
large number of binary stars in
the system, as well as blue
stragglers, which are likely to
have been formed by collisions
and mergers of smaller stars.
The NASA website "Astronomy
Picture of the Day" notes
that it holds over 100 thousand
stars in a sphere about 100
light-years in diameter.
The
apparent magnitude of the
cluster is 5.4, so it can be
seen with the unaided eye. However
this depends on good viewing
conditions with a minimum of
light pollution. With
binoculars it can be seen to
cover an area three quarters the
size of the full moon. It lies
1.5 degrees east of 5th
magnitude Omega Pavonis. The
nearest bright star is Peacock,
which lies 3.25 degrees north
and 9.25 degrees east.
Six
X-ray sources have been
identified in the cluster's core
by the Chandra X-Ray
Observatory.
|