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Messier 10

Globular Cluster M10 (NGC 6254), class VII, in Ophiuchus

[m10.jpg]
Right Ascension 16 : 57.1 (h:m)
Declination -04 : 06 (deg:m)
Distance 16.5 (kly)
Visual Brightness 6.6 (mag)
Apparent Dimension 20.0 (arc min)

Discovered 1764 by Charles Messier.

Messier 10 (M10, NGC 6254) is one of the bright globulars populating constellation Ophiuchus. It is of similar brightness as its apparent neighbor, M12, and the distance of 16,500 ly is also similar, so that apparently, these two clusters are also physically neighbored. Harlow Shapley has classified it as of concentration class VII, while M12 is somewhat looser at class IX.

This 7th mag globular cluster appears at about 8 or 9 arc minutes diameter when observed visually in smaller instruments. Average photos show it at about 15.1 arc minutes diameter, and deep photos show it to reach out to about 20 arc minutes, or 2/3 of the diameter of the Full Moon. At its distance of 14,300 light years, this corresponds to a linear diameter of 83 light years. Its brighter core which can be seen visually is only less than half as large, about 35 light-years. It is receding from us at 69 km/sec.

According to Burnham, the extremely low number of only 3 variables had been found in M10 at the time of his compilation; the "Catalog of Galactic Globular Clusters" of R. Monella of the Sharru Astronomical Observatory, COVO (Bergamo), Italy (ADC/CDS number VII, 103) gives the number of 4.

Christine Clement (2022) reports that meanwhile, 37 variable stars have been found in M10, 35 of them real, and mentions an additional 2 millisecond pulsars.

Holger Baumgardt et.al. (2023) investigated M10's orbit from astrometrical data from the GAIA satellite, and found that M10 is at 16.52 kly (5.07 kpc) distance from us, 14.18 kly (4.35 kpc) from the Galactic Center. It is orbiting between 6.22 kly (1.91 kpc) and 15.0 kly (4.60 kpc) with an orbital period of about 65 Myr. It is currently closing in after apogalacticum passage about 10 Myr ago; last perigalacticum had occurred about 42 Myr in the past. From fitting the Color-Magnitude Diagram (CMD), they estimate the cluster's age at 11.8 Gyr (billion years), and from velocity distribution, its mass at 189,000 solar masses. Its half-mass radius is found at 15.5 ly (4.75 pc).

Its central region, according to Mallas, appears pear-shaped, with a grainy texture; the outer regions show brighter knots at medium magnification (120x).

This globular cluster was discovered by Charles Messier on May 29, 1764, cataloged as No. 10 in his list, and like most globular clusters, described as "Nebula without stars" of round shape. William Herschel was the first to resolve it into stars.

  • Historical Observations and Descriptions of M10
  • More images of M10
  • Amateur images of M10

  • Marco Castellani's data for M 10
  • Christine Clement's Catalog of Variable Stars in M10
  • Holger Baumgardt's Fundamental Data for M10 (NGC 6254)
  • SIMBAD Data of M10
  • NED Data of M10
  • Publications on M10 (NASA ADS)
  • Observing Reports for M10 (IAAC Netastrocatalog)
  • NGC Online data for M10

    References:


    Hartmut Frommert
    Christine Kronberg
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    Last Modification: January 7, 2024