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Object description
NGC 5897 - Globular cluster in the constellation Libra
 

 
Object description:

NGC 5897

NGC 5897 is a very beautiful globular cluster in the constellation of Libra. According to Shapley it is assigned to concentration class XI. Class XI corresponds to a very low concentration of stars towards the center of the cluster.

Strangely enough there is hardly any information about this beautiful globular cluster. Its magnitude is given as 8.4 and its apparent diameter as 12 arcminutes. The distances are between 24 000 lightyears to the galactic center and 41 000 lightyears to our solar system. The space volume is given with a diameter of 170 light years. With this distance and its real diameter it should be one of the largest globular clusters of our galaxy.
 
The comparison of the chemical composition of heavy elements of our Sun with the stars in NGC 5897 suggests that the stars were formed at a time long before the Galaxy formed a disk and spiral arms, so they are very old.

The globular cluster was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel on March 10, 1785.

A UBVI photometry of 2709 stars, published in 1992, can be found here. In 2018 an article on the chemical composition of 27 stars in NGC 5897 was published.




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