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NGC 6441, often nicknamed the Silver Nugget Cluster, is one of the most massive and luminous globular clusters in the Milky Way. Located approximately 44,000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Scorpius, it contains about 1.6 million times the mass of the Sun and is estimated to be roughly 13 billion years old.Key CharacteristicsScientific Interest: It is notable for its unusually high "metallicity" (an abundance of elements heavier than helium) for a globular cluster.Stellar Inhabitants: The cluster hosts at least four millisecond pulsars and an exceptionally high number of RR Lyrae variable stars, which have unusually long periods for a cluster of its type.Planetary Nebula: It is one of only four known globular clusters in our galaxy to contain a planetary nebula, known as JaFu 2, which was discovered in 1997.Possible Black Hole: A 2021 study suggested the cluster's core might contain an intermediate-mass black hole with a mass up to 13,200 times that of the Sun.ObservationTo find NGC 6441 in the night sky, look near the bright star G Scorpii; the cluster is located just 5 arc minutes east-northeast of it. While visible through binoculars or small telescopes, a larger instrument (8-inch or more) is typically required to resolve individual stars within its dense, condensed core.Would you like to know more about the telescope equipment best suited for viewing deep-sky objects like this? Image Credit ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto