Globular Cluster Messier 107

Messier 107
Messier 107: Image taken with Hubble Space Telescope. © ESA/Hubble & NASA [215]

History

The globular cluster M 107 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in April 1782. He mentioned his discovery in his letter of 6 May 1783 to Bernoulli. Unfortunately, his discovery came after Messier submitted his list of for publication in the 1784 Connoissance des Temps. The nebula might have been included in a later publication of Messier's catalog, but there was none. William Herschel discovered this globular cluster independently and was able to resolve it into individual stars in his telescope. Dreyer later included this as NGC 6171 in his «New General Catalogie of Nebulae and Star Clusters» published in 1888. It was not until 1947 that Helen Sawyer identified Hogg NGC 6171 with Méchain's discovery and added it to the Messier catalog as M 107 together with M 105 and M 106. [196, 217]

Physical Properties

M 107 is one of the more than 150 globular clusters that belong to our Milky Way. The center is not particularly densely packed with stars. It is around 6.4 kpc (20'000 light years) from Earth and contains 182'000 solar masses. [251]

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
Designation NGC 6171
Type GCL (X)
Right Ascension (J2000.0) 16h 32m 31.9s
Declination (J2000.0) -13° 03' 11"
Diameter 13 arcmin
Visual magnitude 7.8 mag
Metric Distance 6.400 kpc
Dreyer Description globular, L, vRi, vmC, R, rrr
Identification, Remarks WH VI 40; h 3637; GC 4211; M 107; GCL 44

Finder Chart

M 107 is located in the constellation Ophiuchus (Serpent Bearer) 2 ° 45 'from ζ Ophiuchi. The best observation time is March to August.

Finder Chart Globular Cluster Messier 107
Globular Cluster Messier 107 in constellation Ophiuchus. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

Objects Within a Radius of 15°

References