Messier 54

E114012

Messier 54 is a dense globular star cluster located in the constellation Sagittarius, notable for being one of the first globular clusters found to belong to a dwarf galaxy outside the Milky Way.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Messier 54 canonical 2
globular cluster M54 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Messier object
NGC object
deep-sky object
globular star cluster
absoluteMagnitude_V -10.0
age_Gyr about 12.5
alsoKnownAs M54
NGC 6715
angularSize_arcmin 9.1
apparentMagnitude_V 7.6
belongsTo Local Group
belongsToGalaxy Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
catalog Messier catalogue
New General Catalogue
catalogNumber M54
NGC 6715
clusterConcentrationClass III
constellation Sagittarius
contains tens of thousands of stars
coreRadius_ly about 0.6
declination −30° 28′ 47″
discoveredBy Charles Messier
discoveryDate 1778
discoveryInstrument telescope
distanceFromEarth_ly 87000
distanceFromGalacticCenter_ly 65000
distanceFromSun_ly 87000
galacticCoordinates_b -14.09
galacticCoordinates_l 5.61
galacticPopulation halo
halfLightRadius_ly about 9
hasCentralDensity very high
hasStellarPopulation old, metal-poor stars
hostGalaxyType dwarf spheroidal galaxy
locatedIn Milky Way halo
Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
mass_solarMasses about 2000000
metallicity_Fe_H -1.5
notableFor being one of the first globular clusters identified as belonging to an external dwarf galaxy
high central concentration
observedIn optical wavelengths
radialVelocity_km_s about 142
rightAscension 18h 55m 03.3s
tidalRadius_ly about 150
visibility best seen from southern and equatorial latitudes
visibilitySeason northern summer

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sagittarius contains Messier 54
SagDEG contains globular cluster M54
linked to: Messier 54
Sagittarius Stream associatedWith globular cluster M54
linked to: Messier 54
M54 alsoKnownAs Messier 54