Portal:Astronomy/Picture/Week 32 2008

Messier 72 (also known as M72 or NGC 6981) is a globular cluster in the Aquarius constellation discovered by Pierre Méchain on August 29, 1780. Charles Messier looked for it on the following October 4 and 5, and included it in his catalog. Both decided that it was a faint nebula not a cluster as is now known.

The image is combination of four shots taken by Hubble Space Telescope on May 17, 2006 with its ACS/WFC tool in 606nm and 814nm wavelength. The complete color image produced and brought to general public on August 2, 2008 by WikiSky team. It covers 3.44&prime;&times;3.44&prime; of the cluster.