M56

globular cluster · in Lyra

34,000 light-years from Earth

A faint, loose globular half-way between Albireo and Gamma Lyrae. Its orbit suggests it came from Gaia-Enceladus, a small galaxy the Milky Way swallowed.

• 34,000 light-years · about 85 light-years across
• about 12.8 billion years old

kind

nebula · star cluster

catalogue

M56 · NGC 6779

size

85 light-years across