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| M62, A Globular Cluster, - this image cropped and reduced from the original photo, Click on photo above for a full frame full rez image. |
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To the average eye M62 looks like many other
globulars, but astronomers who look more closely have noticed that M62 is
one of the most irregularly shaped globular clusters. This deformation may
be because it is one of the closest globulars to the Galactic center, only
about 6100 light years away, where it is likely being deformed by the
gravitational tidal forces there. Its central condensation is displaced from
the center toward the lower left. For northern viewers M62 is low in the sky
(30 degrees below the celestial equator) to the right hand side of the
central swath of the summer Milky way. M62 appears to have a diameter of 15 arc minutes. At 22,000 light years away from us, that would give it a linear diameter of about 100 light-years. From its apparent size and magnitude, M62 appears very similar to its neighbor, M19. However, physically, they are a bit less similar. Their distances are somewhat different: M62 is at 22,500, M19 at 28,400 light years. M62 has a large number of variables (over 90), while M19 has only 4. Unlike M19, the core of M62 is extremely dense and has possibly undergone a core collapse, similar to a number of other globulars including M15, M30, and M70. |
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10"
F6.3 Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope, (1600mm F.L.) Modified Canon
300D camera with IR-UV filter, placed at the scopes prime focus |