Messier 54 (M 54)

Introduction | Map | My Own Photos | My Own Observations | References

On this page I collect my observations of the globular star cluster M 54 (NGC 6715) in the constellation Sagittarius.

Introduction

The globular star cluster M 54 is located in the constellation Sagittarius and is the left one of the three globular star clusters M 54, M 70, and M 69. According to Stoyan, it is not a globular star cluster of our galaxy, but belongs to a dwarf galaxy, which is just being "cannibalized" by our galaxy.

M 54 (NGC 6715)
Size: 2.5' (Stoyan)
Distance: 70,000 light years (Stoyan)
Rating: * (Stoyan)

Map

The globular star cluster M 54 in the constellation Sagittarius and in the context of other nearby DSO (Image Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy, www.simulationcurriculum.com)

My Own Photos

eVscope


M 54 - Aug 9, 2020, many hot pixels		M 54 - Aug 9, 2020, processed		M 54 - Aug 9, 2020, processed and sharpened

My Own Observations

Observations September/October 2019

Sep 20, 2019 (Sumène, France: StarTravel 120/600 on AZ Pronto Mount): M 54 (24, 7, 4 mm) very small, but seen well, not resolved; I was not able to find the other two DSOs (M 69, M 70) to the right of it, probably, they were already too low at the horizon...
Sep 30, 2019 (ditto): M 54 (24, 10, 4 mm) very small, bright core at 4 mm

Observations August 2020

August 9, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 54 photographed in the new rectangular format without overlay, many hot pixels

References

Messier Catalogue - Messier 54: messier.seds.org/m/m054.html
Messier 54 (Wikipedia): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_54