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Show the direction and distance to this star cluster on the Galactic Map.

Proper Name	None
Messier Number	M72
NGC/IC Number	NGC 6981
Other Designations	Melotte 233
Constellation	Aquarius
Right Ascension	20h 53m 28s
Declination	-12° 32' 14"
Distance	c. 55,400 light years c. 17,000 parsecs
Magnitude	Apparent: +9.27 Absolute: -6.88
Diameter	Apparent: 6' 36" Actual: 106 light years
Optimum Visibility	August
Notes	As is typical for a globular cluster, M72 is an ancient structure, estimated to be some 9.5 billion years old. This is a relatively diffuse globular cluster, show a rather lower concentration of stars in its central regions than in comparable clusters.

Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas

A faint and diffuse globular star cluster in the western parts of the constellation Aquarius. It is very distant indeed from Earth - more than fifty thousand light years away - and lies far beyond the Saturn Nebula, to which it appears close in the sky.

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