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May 27: A superb star
Today’s target sits near the head and claws of Scorpius the Scorpion, highest in the south shortly after midnight. M80 is a lovely, tightly-packed globular cluster of ancient stars located about 4.5° northwest of Antares, the heart of the Scorpion.
Visible in binoculars or any small scope, M80 glows at magnitude 7.3. It spans just 10’, making it quite compact. Although small instruments will easily pick it up, you’ll see the cluster through them as a bright, small fuzzy ball. If you want to begin resolving M80’s stars, try for a bigger scope and bump up the magnification. Many observers note that because it is so compact, the cluster looks a bit like a cometary nucleus without a tail.
M80 sits some 32,600 light-years away and contains hundreds of thousands of stars packed into a region of space about 95 light-years in diameter.
Sunrise: 5:35 A.M.
Sunset: 8:20 P.M.
Moonrise: 6:13 P.M.
Moonset: 3:37 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (95%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
