M54

globular cluster · the heart of the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy

85,500 light-years from Earth

The heart of the Sagittarius Dwarf, a small galaxy the Milky Way is pulling apart. Messier found it in 1778, so it was the first globular cluster from another galaxy ever seen, though nobody knew that until the galaxy was found in 1994.

• 85,500 light-years · about 300 light-years across
• about 1.6 million times the Sun's mass

kind

nebula · star cluster

catalogue

M54 · NGC 6715

size

300 light-years across