Astronomy and Space

47 Tucanae

47 Tucanae (47 Tuc, also designated NGC 104 and Caldwell 106) is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Tucana. It is about 4.45 ± 0.01 kpc (14,500 ± 32.6 ly) from Earth, and 120 light years in diameter. 47 Tuc can be seen with the naked eye, with an apparent magnitude of 4.1. It appears about 44 arcminutes across including its far outreaches. Due to its far southern location, 18° from the south celestial pole, it was not catalogued by European astronomers until the 1750s, when the cluster was first identified by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille from South Africa. 47 Tucanae is the second brightest globular cluster after Omega Centauri, and telescopically reveals about ten thousand stars, many appearing within a small dense central core. The cluster may contain an intermediate-mass black hole.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸HR 3159
• ▸History of Albany, Western Australia
• ▸Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Uncatalogued shelf

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