IYA Live Telescope – UT Reader Requests – 47 Tucana (NGC 104)

The IYA Live Telescope broadcasting on “Galactic TV” has been busy fillling your requests and we hope Johnathan Kade had a chance to follow 47 Tucana (NGC 104) for several hours in the remote telescope on April 11! (I was down and out – but the scope wasn’t.) Come on inside… Your request has been fulfilled and your images are waiting!

The following is a cut and paste from Wikipedia:

Object: 47 Tucana (NGC 104) – Constellation: TUCANA

47 Tucanae (NGC 104) or just 47 Tuc is a globular cluster located in the constellation Tucana. It is about 16,700 light years away from Earth, and 120 light years across. It can be seen with the naked eye, and it is bright enough to earn a Flamsteed designation with a visual magnitude of 4.0.

It is one of only a small number of features in the southern sky with such a designation. 47 Tucanae was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751, its southern location having hidden it from European observers until then. The cluster appears roughly the size of the full moon in the sky under ideal conditions.

It is the second brightest globular cluster in the sky (after Omega Centauri), and is noted for having a very bright and dense core. It has 22 known millisecond pulsars, and at least 21 blue stragglers near the core. 47 Tucanae is included in Sir Patrick Moore’s Caldwell catalogue as C106.

NGC 104 competes with NGC 5139 for the title: Most splendid Globular Cluster in the sky. NGC 104 has two features in its favour. It is rounder and has a more compact core. However due to location more observers go for NGC 5139.

We would like to once again thank Johnathan Kade for his request and remind you that you can always watch our IYA telescope “live” whenever skies are clear and dark in Central Victoria by simply clicking on the logo “Live Remote Cam” to your right. Enjoy!

(Information Source: Wikipedia.)