- M 79 (NGC 1904)
M 79 is a small, compact globular cluster in the constellation Lepus. It was discovered in October of 1780 by Messier's colleague Pierre Mechain. Messier himself observed it two months later in December. Few other early observers paid any attention to this cluster, probably because of its low location (-24.5 deg Declination) in the Southern sky for observers in the Northern Hemisphere.
M 79 contains around 900,000 stars and lies at a distance of 45,000 LY from us. It is very old, with age estimates going back close to the start of the Universe. M 79 is not an original memember of our Milky Way Galaxy, but is thought to have been scavenged (along with several other globular clusters) from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy that the Milky Way is currently tearing apart and absorbing.
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