Messier 13
Messier 13 | |
---|---|
arcminutes | |
Physical characteristics | |
Absolute magnitude | –8.5 |
Mass | 6×105[6] M☉ |
Radius | 84 ly[7] |
Metallicity | = –1.33 Gyr[8] |
Notable features | One of the best-known clusters of the Northern Hemisphere |
Other designations | NGC 6205[5] |
Messier 13 or M13 (also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, the Hercules Globular Cluster, or the Great Hercules Cluster), is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules.
Discovery and visibility
Messier 13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714,[2] and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764,[9] into his list of objects not to mistake for comets; Messier's list, including Messier 13, eventually became known as the Messier catalog.[10] It is located at right ascension 16h 41.7m, declination +36° 28'. Messier 13 is often described by astronomers as the most magnificent globular cluster visible to northern observers.[2]
About one third of the way from Vega to Arcturus, four bright stars in
Nearby to Messier 13 is NGC 6207, a 12th-magnitude edge-on galaxy that lies 28 arcminutes directly northeast.[14] A small galaxy, IC 4617, lies halfway between NGC 6207 and M13, north-northeast of the large globular cluster's center. At low powers the cluster is bracketed by two seventh–magnitude stars.[15]
Characteristics
About 145 light-years in diameter, M13 is composed of several hundred thousand stars, with estimates varying from around 300,000 to over half a million.[15] The brightest star in the cluster is a red giant, the variable star V11, also known as V1554 Herculis,[16] with an apparent visual magnitude of 11.95. M13 is 22,200–25,000 light-years away from Earth,[9] and the globular cluster is one of over one hundred that orbit the center of the Milky Way.[17][18]
Single stars in this globular cluster were first resolved in 1779.[9] Compared to the stars in the neighborhood of the Sun, the stars of the M13 population are more than a hundred times more densely packed.[9] They are so close together that they sometimes collide and produce new stars.[9] The newly formed, young stars, known as "blue stragglers", are particularly interesting to astronomers.[9]
The last three variables (V63, V64 and V65) were discovered from Spain in April 2021, March 2022 and January 2024 respectively.
Arecibo message
The 1974 Arecibo message, which contained encoded information about the human race, DNA, atomic numbers, Earth's position and other information, was beamed from the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope towards Messier 13 as an experiment in contacting potential extraterrestrial civilizations in the cluster. M13 was chosen because it was a large, relatively close star cluster that was available at the time and place of the ceremony.[19] The cluster will move through space during the transit time; opinions differ as to whether or not the cluster will be in a position to receive the message by the time that it arrives.[20][21]
Literary references
- The science fiction novellas "Sucker Bait" by Isaac Asimov and the novel Question and Answer by Poul Anderson take place on Troas, a world within M13.
- In the German science fiction series Perry Rhodan, M13 is the location of Arkon, the homeworld of the race of Arkonides.
- In author Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos the Hercules cluster is where a copy of Earth was secretly recreated after the original was destroyed.
- In his novel The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut writes "Every passing hour brings the Solar System forty-three thousand miles closer to Globular Cluster M13 in Hercules—and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress."
- Messier 13 is the home of the antagonistic aliens in the 1977 space opera The War in Space, who hail from the third planet of a system orbiting a star called Yomi.
- Deliberately engineering a star in Messier 13 to go Cybermen's complicated plot in the 1968 Doctor Who story The Wheel in Space.
Gallery
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M13 is in the "armpit" of the constellation Hercules.
-
Heart of the Hercules Globular Cluster, Hubble image
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Hubble Discovers Hydrogen-Burning White Dwarfs Enjoying Slow Ageing
See also
- List of globular clusters
- Lists of astronomical objects
- List of Messier objects
- New General Catalogue
References
- Bibcode:1927BHarO.849...11S.
- ^ ISBN 978-0596526856.
- ^ S2CID 119183070.
- S2CID 120965440.
- ^ a b "M 13". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
- doi:10.1086/116386.
- ^ distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 84 ly radius
- ^ S2CID 51825384.
- ^ a b c d e f Garner, Rob (2017-10-06). "Messier 13 (The Hercules Cluster)". NASA. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
- ^ "Messier 13 (M13) - The Great Hercules Cluster - Universe Today". Universe Today. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
- ^ "M 13". Messier Objects Mobile -- Charts, Maps & Photos. 2016-10-16. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
- ^ "How to See the Great Hercules Cluster of Stars". Space.com. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
- ^ "M13: Great Cluster in Hercules | EarthSky.org". earthsky.org. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
- ^ "NGC 6207". Skyhound. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0521553322.
- ^ "Control Telescope :: Stars & Nebulae". Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ "Star Cluster". Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ Larry Klaes (2005-11-30). "Making Contact". Ithaca Times. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
- ^ "It's the 25th anniversary of Earth's first attempt to phone E.T." 1999-11-12. Archived from the original on 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
- ^ "Science 2.0". In regard to the email from. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
External links
- Messier 13, SEDS Messier pages[permanent dead link]
- Red Giant variable stars
- L199 (V63), a new variable star in M13
- Variability of L261 in M13 (V64)
- Study of the variable stars V10 and C6 in M13 (V65)
- Messier 13, Galactic Globular Clusters Database page
- Messier 13, High-resolution LRGB image based on 2 hrs total exposure
- Messier 13, Amateur astrophotographer (hgg) photo using the 9.25" Celestron Telescope (85min exposure)
- M13 Hercules Globular photo detail Dark Atmospheres
- Variable Stars in M13. II.The Red Variables and the Globular Cluster Period-Luminosity Relation
- Variable Stars in M13. III. The Cepheid Variables and their Relation to Evolutionary Changes in Metal-Poor BL Her Stars.
- Messier 13, Image by Waid Observatory
- NightSkyInfo.com – M13, the Hercules Globular Cluster
- Photometric study of the V2 cepheid in M13
- Period, Amplitude and Light Curve of V38 in M13
- Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (Messier 13/NGC 6205)
- Rothery, David; Bauer, Amanda; Dhillon, Vik; Lawrence, Pete; Chapman, Allan; Fohring, Dora. "M13 – Hercules Globular Cluster". Deep Sky Video. Brady Haran.
- Messier 13 on