NGC 6304

NGC 6304 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. William Herschel discovered this star cluster using an 18.5-inch (47 cm) f/13 speculum reflector telescope in 1786.[3] It is about 19,000 light-years away, near the Milky Way's central bulge.[7]

Globular cluster NGC 6304, by HST (WFC3).

NGC 6304
Credit: 2MASS
Observation data (J2000.0 [1] epoch)
Class	VI [2]
Constellation	Ophiuchus [3]
Right ascension	17^h 14^m 32.25^s [1]
Declination	−29° 27′ 43.3″ [1]
Distance	19.2 kly [2]
Apparent magnitude (V)	9.03 [1]
Apparent dimensions (V)	3.8'
Physical characteristics
VHB	16.25 [4]
Metallicity	${\displaystyle {\begin{smallmatrix}\left[{\ce {Fe}}/{\ce {H}}\right]\end{smallmatrix}}}$ = -0.45 [4] dex
Estimated age	~12.3 Gyr[5]
Other designations	Bennett 90,[3] C 1711-294,[1] ESO 454-2,[1] ESO 454-SC 002,[6] GC 4275,[3] GCl 56,[1] h 3670,[3] I 147,[3] NGC 6304,[1] VDBH 216[1]

See also

• NGC object
  • List of NGC objects
    • List of NGC objects (6001–7000)

References

1. "NGC 6304". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
2. "NGC 6304". SEDS. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
3. "NGC 6304". Deep Sky Observer's Companion on-line database. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
4. "NGC 6304". A Galactic Globular Cluster Database. Version 11.12. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
5. Forbes, D. A.; Bridges, T. (2010). "Accreted versus in situ Milky Way globular clusters". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 404 (3): 1203–1214. arXiv:1001.4289. Bibcode:2010MNRAS.404.1203F. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16373.x.
6. "NGC 6304". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
7. Crossen, C.; Rhemann, G. (2004), Sky Vistas: Astronomy for Binoculars and Richest-Field Telescopes, Springer-Verlag, p. 254, ISBN 978-3-211-00851-5

External links

• Media related to NGC 6304 at Wikimedia Commons
• NED – NGC 6304
• SEDS – NGC 6304
• SIMBAD – NGC 6304
• VizieR – NGC 6304