Astr110, Spring 2005

Calvin Observatory

Related Links

Astr110 Photography Projects, Spring 2005

Intergalactic Wanderer , Jared Staal

Right Ascension (J2000)	07:38:28
Declination (J2000)	+38:52:30
Filters used	blue(B), green(V), red(R), and clear(C)
Exposure time per filter	60 seconds in C, 300 seconds in BVR
Date observed	March 15 , 2005 (C) March 15, 2005 (BVR)

The Intergalactic Wanderer (NGC 2419)

Discovered by William Herschel on December 31, 1788. The Intergalactic Wanderer is located in the constellation Lynx, NGC 2419 is one of the most remote globular clusters associated with the Milky Way. It lies almost 300,000 light years from the Earth. Some early astronomers doubted that the cluster was even a member of our galaxy, thus the name "Intergalactic Wanderer". Current studies show that it is gravitationally bound to the Milky Way and is following an elliptical orbit around the galaxy. The cluster is intrinsically very luminous. If it were located at the same distance as most globular clusters, it would out shine almost all others. NGC 2419 is approaching us at approximately 20 km/sec.

In this image you can see the dense group of stars in the center and then as it fades out towards the edges. The cluster is much larger than what can been seen in this image. The Clusters angular size is about 2 arc mintes and the linear size is 174.6 light years.