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Messier 10 is a bright globular cluster located 15,000 light years away, in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is close (2,000 light years away) from Messier 12 and it is more compact than its “neighbor”. M10 contains about 100,000 stars and it is moderately metal-poor. Its metallicity is about 3.5% that of our Sun (seven times larger than M92’s metallicity). This higher metallicity can be due to two different factors. One is the appearance of elements produced by Type II supernovae and the second is the capture of neutrons through the so called “s-process” (slow-neutron-capture process) in massive stars, the protons being provided from the star’s plasma. The core is rich in binary stars (14% of the stars in it) which accounts for the high number of blue stragglers, usually formed from binary stars.
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): Messier 10. M10. NGC 6254
Type: Globular Cluster
RA: 16h 57m 09s
Dec: -04º 05’ 58”
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Size (arcmin): 20×20 arcmin
Magnitude: +6.4
Distance: 15,000 ly
Image
Date: 2021-04-18 to 2021-04-19
Location: iTelescope.net, SSO near Coonabarabran, NSW Australia
Size (arcmin): 39×34 arcmin
Telescope: 17” f/6.8 Reflector
Camera: FLI PL16803 (4096x4096pix)
Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider
Total exposure: 4 hours (L: 1h; RGB: 3h)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2021