- M 10 (NGC 6254)
M 10 is a bright globular cluster in the central region of the constellation Ophiuchus. It forms a nice pair with another globular cluster, M 12, located approximately 3 degrees north-west of it. The two clusters can easily be seen as adjacent small fuzzy balls of light in the field of 10 × 50 binoculars.
M 10 has a physical diameter of around 140 LY and lies at a distance of 24,750 LY. With a visual magnitude of 6.6, it has been reported as visible to the naked eye in clear mountainous viewing locations. M 10 is considered an "average" globular cluster, having a mass equivalent to around 250,000 Suns. Unlike some other globular clusters that lie in orbits that take them far from the Milky Way, the orbit of M 10 keeps it in the inner halo of our galaxy.
M 10 was first observed by Charles Messier on the 29th of May 1764, one night after discovering the nearby M 12. Messier described the object as a "nebula without star", and it was left up to William Herschel to reveal that the object was in fact a cluster of individual stars.
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