IYA Live Telescope Library – Messier 7

Were you tuned in to Galactic TV last week? If not, you missed an opportunity to visit with Messier object. Although the Moon was shining bright, mighty M7 could still cut through and send us a starry view! If you didn’t get a chance to see it – no worries. We did a video recording for you and saved it. Just step inside the library to watch….

(The following information is a direct quote from Wikipedia.)

OBJECT INFORMATION: M 7 – SCORPIUS

Messier 7 or M7, also designated NGC 6475 and sometimes known as known as the Ptolemy Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius.

The cluster is easily detectable with the naked eye, close to the “stinger” of Scorpius. It has been known since antiquity; it was first recorded by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy, who described it as a nebula in 130 AD. Giovanni Batista Hodierna observed it before 1654 and counted 30 stars in it. Charles Messier catalogued the cluster in 1764 and subsequently included it in his list of comet-like objects as ‘M7’.

Telescopic observations of the cluster reveal about 80 stars within a field of view of 1.3° across. At the cluster’s estimated distance of 800-1000 light years this corresponds to an actual diameter of 18-25 light years. The age of the cluster is around 220 million years while the brightest star is of magnitude 5.6.

As always, you can visit the remote telescope by clicking on the IYA “LIVE Remote Cam” Logo to your right. We’ll be broadcasting whenever skies are clear and dark in Central Victoria! Enjoy…

Many thanks to all the contributors at Wikipedia for all that you do!