Globular cluster · Aquarius

M2

Also known as: NGC 7089

mag 6.513′ across

About

M2 is a globular cluster of magnitude 6.5 in Aquarius, about 13′ across.

M2 is in the constellation Aquarius.
Best evenings: around late September 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 79° N.

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.

EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
Binoculars (10×50)A fuzzy ball, brighter towards the middle.
Telescope (6–8 inch)Resolves into a swarm of stars at medium power, with a dense core.

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

Designations	M2, NGC 7089
Type	Globular cluster
Magnitude	6.5The smaller the number, the brighter.
Apparent size	13′the full Moon is 31′ across
Surface brightness	≈ 20.7 mag/arcsec²Estimate from the magnitude and size, per square arcsecond.
Constellation	Aquarius
Right ascension (J2000)	21h 33m 27.0s
Declination (J2000)	−00° 49′ 24″

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