NGC 6397 Globular Star Cluster
| Description | Caldwell 86, also known as NGC 6397, is a globular cluster located in the constellation Ara. It was discovered by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1752. This cluster is situated approximately 7,800 light-years from Earth, making it one of the two closest globular clusters to our planet, with Messier 4 being the other. Caldwell 86 contains around 400,000 stars and is visible to the naked eye under ideal observing conditions. Additionally, it is one of at least 20 globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy that have experienced core collapse, resulting in a very dense concentration of stars in its core. |
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| Data/Processing Attribution | Data was purchased from Telescope Live and I did processing only. |
| Distances/Size | Distance to the object- 7,800 light years; angular size in the sky is about 32’ (minutes); size of the cluster is about 34 light years in diameter |
| Equipment | Mount-Software Bisque Paramount MX+ GEM; Scope- Takahashi, 106 mm aperture, 382mm focal length; Camera- QHY600 M Pro. |
| Observatory | Telescope Live, IC Astronomical Observatory, Spain. |
| Exposure | LRGB filters, total exposure- 10 hours 20 min. |