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Messier 2
Globular Cluster
NGC 7089
Visual Magnitude: 6.6
Apparent Diameter: 16'
Distance: 49000 ly

Minimum requirements to view: any telescope and suburban sky

M2 is a nice globular star cluster. Located in Aquarius about 5o to the north of Beta Aqr, M2 appears as a 7th magnitude fuzzy star in binoculars and small telescopes. A 6-inch scope will resolve many of the stars, but it takes a larger aperture and a night of good seeing to resolve stars all the way to the rich core.

This cluster contains hundreds of thousands of stars within a diameter of 150 light years.


The view in a 6" at 50x. North is down and east is right.
Millennium Star Atlas Vol III Chart 1286
Sky Atlas 2000 Chart 17
Uranometria 2000 Vol I&II Chart 255