Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Scorpius (Sco)  ·  Contains:  M 4  ·  NGC 6121
M4 (NGC 6121), Charles Martin
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M4 (NGC 6121)

M4 (NGC 6121), Charles Martin
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M4 (NGC 6121)

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Description

Messier 4 (NGC 6121) is a class IX globular cluster located in the constellation Scorpius about 1 degree west of Antares. Class IX globulars have a less concentrated core of stars. M4 is one of the globulars closest to Earth (only 7200 light years away). M4 has about the same apparent size as the full moon. The cluster consists of approximately 20,000 as is believed to be 12.2 billion years old. It’s interesting that M4 was the only globular cluster described by Messier as having individual stars.

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