The Caldwell Objects

4 7
NGC 6934
Type: Globular Cluster
Con: Delphinus
RA: 20 h 34 m 11.6 s
Dec: +07° 24' 15"
Mag: 8.8
Diam: 7.1'
Dist: 57,000 light-years
Disc: William Herschel,
1785
W. HERSCHEL: [Observed 24 September 1785] Very
bright, large, gradually much brighter in the
middle.
GLOBULAR CLUSTERS ARE THE MILKY WAY'S
senior citizens. When our galaxy was an adolescent,
some 10 to 16 billion years ago, thousands
of globulars are thought to have formed
from its original allotment of gas. The clusters
may even have begun life as the cores of dwarf
galaxies. In time, though, most of these primordial
clusters perished in repeated, tragic
encounters with each other or with the galac-
The Caldwell Objects
Easily resolvable. Beautiful object. (Η I-103)
GC: Globular, bright, large, round, well resolved, clearly
consisting of stars, stars of the 16th magnitude downwards, star
of the 9th magnitude preceding [to the west].
NGC: Globular, bright, large, round, well resolved, clearly
consisting of stars, stars of 16th magnitude and fainter, star of
9th magnitude preceding [to the west].
47
tic center. Today, only about 150 globulars — the
remnants of the largest dwarf galaxies? — are
known to have survived these ravaging
encounters. Delphinus, the small but illustrious
celestial Dolphin, harbors two of these ancient
galactic relics, and they are nearly cosmic twins:
NGC 7006 (Caldwell 42) and NGC 6934
(Caldwell 47).
These Caldwell clusters are separated by
187