M 14 Deep sky · Globular cluster in Ophiuchus · M 14 · NGC 6402
M 14
A faint globular cluster in Ophiuchus where a nova once flared unnoticed — spotted only decades later on old photographic plates.
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- Type
- Globular cluster
- Designations
- M 14 · NGC 6402
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 8.3
- Apparent size
- 11′
- Position (J2000)
- RA 17h 38m · Dec −03° 15′
The full Moon, about 31′ across, is 2.8 times as wide. The Sun comes no nearer to it than 20°, around mid December, so it is never lost in the Sun’s glare, which reaches about 15° out.
When to see it
On the night of Sun 13 Jun 2027, when it is highest around midnight, on each city’s own clock:
| From | Rises | Highest | Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| London GMT+1 | 19:28 | 01:11 · 35° | 06:53 |
| New York EDT | 19:18 | 01:05 · 46° | 06:53 |
| Singapore GMT+8 | 19:17 | 01:16 · 85° | 07:15 |
| Sydney GMT+10 | 17:59 | 00:07 · 59° | 06:15 |
Common questions
- Can I see it from 50° north?
- Yes. It rises and sets, and at its highest it stands 37° up in the south.
- Can I see it from 35° south?
- Yes. It rises and sets, and at its highest it stands 58° up in the north.
- When is the best time of year to see it?
- Around mid June, when it stands opposite the Sun and is highest at midnight. It comes round about two hours earlier each month, so by mid September it is highest in the early evening, and in mid March not until the hours before dawn.
- How bright is it?
- Magnitude 8.3 in total, but that light is spread over 11′ of sky: on average 22.2 magnitudes per square arcsecond. Against a dark country sky that average stands out; a city’s glow drowns all but its brightest parts.
- Naked eye, binoculars or telescope?
- Binoculars. At magnitude 8.3 it is past the eye, but a 50 mm pair under a dark sky reaches about magnitude 11.0.
Look for
It is farther than its neighbours M 10 and M 12, and a small telescope shows only an even, misty disk.
Look for
From 50° north it climbs to 37°; from 35° north it climbs to 52°; from the equator it climbs to 87°; from 35° south it climbs to 58°.
Look for
Magnitude 8.3 against the faintest star each can show: the eye under a city sky, 4.5 (3.8 short); the eye under a dark country sky, 7.0 (1.3 short); 50 mm binoculars under that dark sky, 11.0 (2.7 to spare); a 100 mm telescope there, 12.5 (4.2 to spare). Those limits are for a point of light; its light is spread over its whole size, so it needs some of that margin in hand. Through 7×50 binoculars, whose field is about 7.1° across, it spans 3% of the field’s width; through a 100 mm telescope at 50×, a field about 1° across, it spans 18% of the field’s width.