M56 is a magnitude 8.4 globular star cluster that is about 8.8 arc-minutes in diameter. This star cluster was discovered by Charles Messier on the same night that he discovered a comet on January 19, 1779. M56 appears fairly uniform without a central condensation when viewed through a telescope, and is not considered to be a very rich cluster. It is about 60 light-years in diameter and about 46,000 light-years away.
This is a composite RGB CCD image taken with a Takahashi FCT-150 at prime focus using an SBIG ST-8XE CCD. This image was taken from my backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona.
M56 (NGC 6779)
Constellation: Lyra
RA: 19h 16m 49s Dec: +30d 11' 24"
March 8, 2006
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona
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