The image was taken with a ST-9E CCD camera through a 20
inch F/8 telescope working at F/5. The field of view is about 15 x 15 arc
minutes.
There are two images of M-56 below. The first was taken with the Kopernik 20-inch telescope working at around F/5, and thus it is a wide field view. The second image was taken at the telescope's F/8.1 prime focus.
The image was taken with a ST-9E CCD camera through a 20
inch F/8 telescope working at F/5. The field of view is about 15 x 15 arc
minutes.
The image is a 22 minute exposure taken with a ST-9E CCD
camera (with AO-7) through a 20 inch F/8 telescope. The field of view is
about 8 x 9 arc minutes.
Charles Messier discovered globular star cluster M-56 on January 19th, 1779 on the same night as he discovered one of his comets. He was unable to resolve it, and thus listed it as a "nebula without stars" in his famous catalog. William Hershel resolved it into a myriad of dim stars in 1784.
Current estimates place M-56 at a distance of 45,600 light years, with a diameter of 60 light years.
Although a 6 inch telescope will begin to resolve the outer parts of this cluster, it takes a 10 inch to completely resolve it.
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here for information on Globular Star Cluster distances and ages!!
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George Normandin, KAS
December 7th, 2004