M4

globular cluster · the nearest · in Scorpius

6,030 light-years from Earth

The nearest globular cluster to us, about 12 billion years old. Hubble found some of the oldest white dwarfs known in it, and its one known pulsar has a planet, among the oldest planets known.

• 6,000 light-years · about 55 light-years across
• its pulsar's planet probably formed 12 to 13 billion years ago

kind

nebula · star cluster

catalogue

M4 · NGC 6121

size

54 light-years across