August 19, 1998
The constellations may be old, but the person celebrating beneath them is gloriously new by cosmic standards.
M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
Birthday · August 19, 1998
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APOD published August 19, 1998. Credit: Michael Richmann. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
M13 is one of the most prominent and best known globular clusters. Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hercules, M13 is frequently one of the first steps beyond the ordinary visible to the casual sky gazer. M13 is a colossal home to over 100,000 stars, spans over 150 light years across, lies over 20,000 light years distant, and is over 12 billion years old. At the 1974 dedication of Arecibo Observatory, a radio message about Earth was sent in the direction of M13. The reason for the low abundance of unusual blue straggler stars in M13 is currently unknown.
Image credit: Michael Richmann