M 62 Deep sky · Globular cluster in Ophiuchus · M 62 · NGC 6266
Flickering Globular Cluster
A lopsided globular cluster near the centre of the galaxy, pulled out of shape by the Milky Way’s tides.
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- Type
- Globular cluster
- Designations
- M 62 · NGC 6266
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 7.4
- Apparent size
- 15′
- Position (J2000)
- RA 17h 01m · Dec −30° 07′
The full Moon, about 31′ across, is 2.1 times as wide. The Sun passes 7° from it around early December, and for about 26 days of the year it sits within 15° of the Sun, lost in its glare.
When to see it
On the night of Fri 4 Jun 2027, when it is highest around midnight, on each city’s own clock:
| From | Rises | Highest | Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| London GMT+1 | 22:18 | 01:10 · 8° | 04:02 |
| New York EDT | 21:05 | 01:05 · 19° | 05:04 |
| Singapore GMT+8 | 19:20 | 01:15 · 58° | 07:11 |
| Sydney GMT+10 | 16:36 | 00:06 · 86° | 07:37 |
Common questions
- Can I see it from 50° north?
- Only just. At its highest it is 10° above the southern horizon, so it needs a clear, flat view that way and clean air.
- Can I see it from 35° south?
- Yes, and well placed: at its highest it passes almost overhead, 85° up, above most of the air’s haze.
- When is the best time of year to see it?
- Around early June, when it stands opposite the Sun and is highest at midnight. It comes round about two hours earlier each month, so by early September it is highest in the early evening, and in early March not until the hours before dawn.
- How bright is it?
- Magnitude 7.4 in total, but that light is spread over 15′ of sky: on average 21.9 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 7.4 it is past the eye, but a 50 mm pair under a dark sky reaches about magnitude 11.0.
Look for
It is south-east of Antares, on the border of Ophiuchus and Scorpius. A telescope shows its centre sitting off to one side.
Look for
From 50° north it barely clears the horizon, at 10°; from 35° north it climbs to 25°; from the equator it climbs to 60°; from 35° south it climbs to 85°.
Look for
Magnitude 7.4 against the faintest star each can show: the eye under a city sky, 4.5 (2.9 short); the eye under a dark country sky, 7.0 (0.4 short); 50 mm binoculars under that dark sky, 11.0 (3.6 to spare); a 100 mm telescope there, 12.5 (5.1 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 25% of the field’s width.