Right Ascension	15 : 18.6 (h:m)
Declination	+02 : 05 (deg:m)
Distance	22.8 (kly)
Visual Brightness	5.6 (mag)
Apparent Dimension	17.4 (arc min)
Discovered by	Gottfried Kirch      in 1764

Globular cluster M5 was first seen by Gottfried Kirch and his wife Maria Margarethe on May 5, 1702, when they observed a comet, and described as a "nebulous star". Charles Messier found it on May 23, 1764, and describes it as a round nebula which "doesn't contain any stars". William Herschel was the first to resolve this cluster into stars; he counted 200 of them with his 40-foot [FL] reflector in 1791, "although the middle is so compressed that it is impossible to distinguish the components".

M5 shows a distinct ellipticity, elongated at position angle 50 degrees (position angles give the orientation of a feature in the celestial sphere; they are measured between North and the direction considered, in counterclockwise sense); it is thought to be one of the oldest globular clusters, with a computed age of 13 billion years. Its diameter is about 130 light years, making it one of the larger globular clusters. At its distance of 23,000 light years, this diameter is about 17 minutes of arc. M5 is receding from us at about 50 km/sec.

Charles Messier observed May 23rd 1764."It does not contain any stars; it is round and may be seen very well under a good sky with a simple one foot refractor." Charles Messier from his Catalogue

Our image of M5 was obtained (and is copyrighted) by David Malin of the Anglo Australian Observatory.

Main information courtesy S.E.D.S.