Globular Clusters

These are spherical aggregations containing hundreds of thousands to millions of stars that are all gravitationally bound to each other. Globular clusters are much smaller and much less massive than galaxies.

M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules, is the best globular cluster that can be seen from northern latitudes. Over 150 of these compact clusters of stars are distributed throughout the galactic halo of our Milky Way Galaxy.

M14 is a beautiful globular cluster in Ophiuchus. This rich cluster does not have a sharp central condensation.

M2, easily viewed with binoculars in the constellation Aquarius, has a very heavy concentration of stars in the central region.

M10 is also in Ophiuchus. Nearly all globular clusters travel in elliptical orbits around the galactic center. It is thought that all the stars in an individual cluster share a common origin.