M23
open star cluster · in Sagittarius
2,327 light-years from Earth
A rich, scattered cluster in the Milky Way's band in Sagittarius, found by Messier in 1764. Over a thousand of its stars have been picked out by their shared motion.
- 2,330 light-years (Gaia) · its stars spread over about 45 light-years
- about 300 million years old · 600 of its stars as Gaia measured them
- kind
- nebula · star cluster
- catalogue
- M23 · NGC 6494
- size
- 46 light-years across