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Globular Cluster M14 (NGC 6402), class VIII, in Ophiuchus

[m14.jpg]
Right Ascension 17 : 37.6 (h:m)
Declination -03 : 15 (deg:m)
Distance 27.4 (kly)
Visual Brightness 7.6 (mag)
Apparent Dimension 11.7 (arc min)
Discovered by Charles Messier
June 1st, 1764

M14 is a slightly elliptically shaped stellar swarm, about 55 light years across and 23,000 light years away. It lacks a dense central condensation (Burnham), and contains a considerably large number of over 70 variables.

In 1938, a nove appeared in M14, which however was not discovered before 1964, when Amelia Wehlau of the University of Western Ontario surveyed a collection of photographic plates taken by Helen Sawyer Hogg between 1932 and 1963. This nova was visible on 8 plates, taken between June 21-28, 1938, as a 16th mag star. It was the second known nova in a globular cluster after that of 1860 in M80, T Scorpii, and the first one ever photographed.

Globular cluster M14 was the first CCD image taken, according to TheSky advertising.

Close by: Barnards Star

"This nebula is not large, and its luminosity feeble, however it may be seen with a simple three and one half foot (length not diam.) refractor; it is circular." Charles Messier from his Catalogue

Close by: Barnards star.

Courtesy www.seds.org