NGC 6752, also known as the Great Peacock Cluster, is a bright, ancient globular star cluster in the southern constellation Pavo, located about 13,000 light-years away. It's one of the oldest known objects in the universe, containing hundreds of thousands of stars, and is notable for its high concentration of "blue straggler" stars, which appear younger than the cluster itself, possibly due to stellar mergers in its dense core. It's the fourth-brightest globular cluster visible from Earth, making it visible to the naked eye.
Key characteristics
Type: Globular cluster
Location: Constellation Pavo (in the Southern Hemisphere)
Distance: ~13,000 light-years
Age: Over 10 billion years old
Brightness: Magnitude 5.4, making it visible to the unaided eye
Size: Covers about three-quarters the size of the full moon in the sky
Notable feature: Contains a high number of "blue straggler" stars, likely formed from stellar collisions in its dense core.
Visibility
Best viewed from June to October in the Southern Hemisphere. Image Credit ESO
Comments