• Constellation: Scorpius
  • Right Ascension: 16h 23m 35.22s
  • Declination: –26° 31′ 32.7″
  • Distance: 7,200 ly

Messier 4 is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Scorpius. M4 is one of the nearer globular clusters at a distance of 7,200 light years. It was one of the first globular clusters to be resolved as a collection of stars by Charles Messier who added it to his catalog in 1764. A relative small globular cluster as it only contains 20,000+ plus stars. It may have had more stars in its past, but it's orbit takes it through the Milky Way's disk where it could loose stars due to gravitational interactions.

 

  • Telescope: Explore Scientific 127 Refractor
  • Camera: ZWO 1600 MM