Messier 92

Messier 92 ( M92, also known as NGC 6341 ) is a 6.3 like bright globular clusters with a surface area of 14.0 ' in the constellation Hercules. The distance from Messier 92 is about 26,000 light-years, its mass is estimated to be about 330,000 solar masses. The very low metal abundance of only 0.6 % of the solar element frequency is indicative of a very high age of this globular cluster. In fact, measurements with the help of color-magnitude diagrams an age of about 13 billion years., Making it one of the oldest known globular clusters.

Because of its high brightness and the far northern location in the sky M92 is visible in Central Europe already in the binoculars. In small telescopes (four- to eight- inch model ), the pile edge can be resolved into individual stars.

One can find M92 just 6.3 ° north of the star π Herculis. It is almost as bright as the more famous Hercules Cluster M13, but appears much more compact. He was discovered in 1777 by Johann Elert Bode in 1781 (regardless of Bode) by Charles Messier.