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Messier 26 |
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 | M26 is a tight, beautiful open cluster with brightest stars of mag 11.9. There are about 25 stars visible in 6-8 inch scopes and about 70-90 fainter members. Its diameter of 22 light-years appear as 15 arc minutes from the 5,000 light years distance. It has a calculated age of about 89 million years old for this cluster.
This is a small, unimpressive open cluster in a 8-inch scope. At 122X, it easily fits within the field of view. About 15-20 stars are visible. One end of the cluster appears to be trapezium-shaped. A small string of stars curves off of one of the endpoints and gives the cluster the appearance of having a sack-shaped dark nebula off to one side of it. At 188X, more dim stars are visible along the other side of the trapezium. This makes it appear a little fuller, but it still isn't overly impressive. |
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M26 NGC 6694 Other description: Open cluster rich. Constellation: Scutum Dreyer description: Cluster, considerably large, westward rich in stars, westward compressed, stars of magnitude 12 to 15; = M26. Magnitude: 8.0 RA: 18h 45m 26.5s Dec: -09°23'53" RA: 18h 45m 12.0s Dec: -09°24'00" (Epoch 2000) Azm: 161°44'15" Alt: +32°36'51" Rise: 20:10 Transit: 01:36 Set: 06:59 Size:15.0' |