Messier 14 (also known as M14 or NGC 6402) is a

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars that is bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards its center. It can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member stars, all orbiting ...

of stars in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

Ophiuchus Ophiuchus () is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellati ...

. It was discovered by

Charles Messier Charles Messier (; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the ''Messier objects'', referred to with th ...

in 1764. At a distance of about 30,000

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astr ...

s, M14 contains several hundred thousand

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s. At an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...

of +7.6 it can be easily observed with

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

. Medium-sized

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

s will show some hint of the individual stars of which the brightest is of magnitude +14. The total

luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic energy per unit time, and is synonymous with the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electroma ...

of M14 is in the order of 400,000 times that of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

corresponding to an absolute magnitude of -9.12. The shape of the cluster is decidedly elongated. M14 is about 100 light-years across. A total of 70

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

s are known in M14, many of the

W Virginis W Virginis is the prototype W Virginis variable, a subclass of the Cepheid variable stars. It is located in the constellation Virgo (constellation), Virgo, and varies between magnitudes 9.46 and 10.75 over a period of approximately 17 day ...

variety common in globular clusters. In 1938, a

nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

appeared, although this was not discovered until

photographic plates Photographic plates preceded photographic film, film as the primary medium for capturing images in photography. These plates, made of metal or Glass, glass and coated with a light-sensitive Photographic emulsion, emulsion, were integral to early ...

from that time were studied in 1964. It is estimated that the nova reached a maximum brightness of magnitude +9.2, over five times brighter than the brightest 'normal' star in the cluster. Slightly over 3° southwest of M14 lies the faint globular cluster NGC 6366.

Gallery

File:M14HunterWilson.jpg, Messier 14 with amateur telescope File:M14map.png, Map showing location of Messier 14

References

External links

SEDS Messier pages on M14

M14, Galactic Globular Clusters Database page
* - one of the two being M14 * {{Sky, 17, 37, 36.15, -, 03, 14, 45.3, 30300 Messier 014 Messier 014

014 014 may refer to: * Argus As 014 The Argus As 014 (designated 109-014 by the Ministry of Aviation (Germany), RLM) was a pulsejet engine used on the German V-1 flying bomb of World War II, and the first model of pulsejet engine placed in mass pr ...

Messier 014 17640601 Discoveries by Charles Messier

Gallery

See also

References

External links