M4 Globular Star Cluster - The Golden Globular
April 29, 2021
Photographer: John Chumack
Summary Author: John Chumack
Early one morning a few weeks back I was able to observe the globular cluster shown above in the constellation of Scorpius. Designated as M4 or NGC 6121, my name for it is the Golden Globular. Discovered in 1764 by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux, M4 is visible through a small telescope or even binoculars (in dark skies), appearing as a fuzzy ball of light, subtending an area of the sky about the size of the full Moon. It’s approximately 75 light-years across and some 7,200 light-years distant. Photo taken on March 7, 2021, from Dayton, Ohio.
Photo Details: Explore Scientific 102 mm F7 telescope, FCD100 Triplet APO refractor scope; Bisque ME Mount; QHY183C Cooled Cmos Color Camera; 6 x 300sec subs; 30-minute exposure total integration time. Seeing conditions were a a bit rough, but I did get a shot of M4 before the rising waning crescent Moon flooded the area with light.