M5

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Scope: C-9.25" SCT; Exposure 40 minutes.

Messier 5 (NGC 5904) is one of the larger and brighter globular clusters in the sky, in Serpens, discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1702. It lies about 24,500 light-years away and, at roughly 13 billion years old, is among the oldest clusters associated with the Milky Way. Under excellent conditions it is just visible to the naked eye near the star 5 Serpentis; a telescope resolves its swarm of hundreds of thousands of stars. William Herschel first resolved individual stars in it in 1791.