Open cluster · Sagittarius

M18

Also known as: NGC 6613

mag 6.99′ across

About

M18 is an open cluster of magnitude 6.9 in Sagittarius, about 9′ across.

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How to find it

  • M18 is in the constellation Sagittarius.
  • Best evenings: around mid-August it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
  • Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from south of 63° N.

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When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.

What you will see

  • EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
  • Binoculars (10×50)A small knot of stars, partly resolved.
  • Telescope (6–8 inch)Dozens of stars, many sharp and some coloured.

For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.

Facts

DesignationsM18, NGC 6613
TypeOpen cluster
Magnitude6.9The smaller the number, the brighter.
Apparent size9′the full Moon is 31′ across
ConstellationSagittarius
Right ascension (J2000)18h 19m 58.5s
Declination (J2000)−17° 06′ 07″

More in Sagittarius

M24Small Sagittarius Star CloudOther · mag 4.5M25Open clustermag 4.6M22Great Sagittarius ClusterGlobular cluster · mag 5.1M23Open clustermag 5.5M8Lagoon NebulaEmission nebula · mag 5.8M21Open clustermag 5.9M28Globular clustermag 6.9M17Omega NebulaEmission nebula · mag 7.0
All NGC objects in Sagittarius →Sagittarius on the constellations page →

Sources and credits

Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →