Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Sagitta (Sge)  ·  Contains:  M 71  ·  NGC 6838
M71, Robert.S
M71
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M71

M71, Robert.S
M71
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M71

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Description

Swiss astronomer Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux discovered M71 in1746. The nature of M71 has been the subject of some questioning. Over the centuries, it has been classified as both an abnormally dense open star cluster and as an unusually loose globular cluster. Because M71 does not seem to have a high concentration of stars at its center, and because the elemental composition of the stars it contains suggests that they are younger than most globular clusters, M71 was initially believed to be an open cluster. In the 1970s, astronomers examined the relationship between the brightness's and temperatures of the stars in the cluster. They found a characteristic trend among the stellar population that is unique to globular clusters, so M71 was reclassified as a young, loosely concentrated globular cluster, the smallest of its kind. The color-composite view of M71 is now known to be 10 billion years old.

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  • M71, Robert.S
    Original
  • M71, Robert.S
    B
  • M71, Robert.S
    C
  • M71, Robert.S
    D
  • Final
    M71, Robert.S
    E

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M71, Robert.S