M4 (NGC 6121) -- Globular Cluster in Scorpius
The Cat's Eye
The magnificent Globular Cluster M4 never disappoints. It is the closest large Globular
Cluster to Earth and even with just 6-inches of aperture my refractor resolves more stars
than I can draw. Most are so faint that they fade in-and-out of view straining the eye as to
which are real, and which are artifacts of an over worked eye.
The Cat’s Eye is located near the red-heart of the Scorpion (Antares). Having a 1st
magnitude star so near the cluster makes it easy to locate. Viewed from Earth, M4 is as
large as the Full Moon, so it makes a nice target for binoculars away from city lights.
Its common names is from the bright bar of stars that crosses the core of this spherical ball of
tens-of-thousands of stars.
Cluster to Earth and even with just 6-inches of aperture my refractor resolves more stars
than I can draw. Most are so faint that they fade in-and-out of view straining the eye as to
which are real, and which are artifacts of an over worked eye.
The Cat’s Eye is located near the red-heart of the Scorpion (Antares). Having a 1st
magnitude star so near the cluster makes it easy to locate. Viewed from Earth, M4 is as
large as the Full Moon, so it makes a nice target for binoculars away from city lights.
Its common names is from the bright bar of stars that crosses the core of this spherical ball of
tens-of-thousands of stars.