M71

globular cluster · loose, once thought an open cluster · in Sagitta

13,000 light-years from Earth

M71 is so loose that for many years astronomers thought it was an open cluster. In the 1970s they agreed it is a sparse globular.

• 13,000 light-years · about 25 light-years across
• about 11 billion years old

kind

nebula · star cluster

catalogue

M71 · NGC 6838

size

25 light-years across