M15 Observation Details
M15 Daily Motion
M15 will reach its transit before twilight, at 15:58. By the onset of twilight at 18:15, it will be at elevation, and it will set before sunrise, at 22:38.M15 will be visible until January, 14, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M15 Visibility Timetable on December 21
Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M15 transit | 15:58 | 62° |
| Sunset | 17:08 | 58° |
| Civil sunset | 17:40 | 54° |
| Astrosession begin | 18:48 | 43° |
| M15 set | 22:38 | |
| Moon Rise, 57% illuminated | 23:50 | -13° |
| Astrosession end | 06:13 | -29° |
| M15 rise | 09:13 | |
| Moon Set | 12:24 | 36° |
Track M15 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 21 December 2024 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M15 - Pegasus Cluster
The Pegasus Cluster (M15) is a globular cluster located in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 and included in Messier's catalog in 1764. M15 is one of the most densely packed globular clusters known.
M15 spans about 175 light-years across and contains over 100,000 stars. The cluster is approximately 33,600 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.2, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M15 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M15
| Object name | M15 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M15 coordinates | 21.49955, 12.16683 |
| Center coordinates | 21.49955, 12.16683 |
M15 Passage Through Night
Current position of M15
| Time | 11:37 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M15 elevation | 27° |
| M15 Azimuth | -96° |
Annual motion of M15
| Date | Sun, 22 December 2024 |
| Twighlight start | 18:44 |
| Twighlight end | 06:07 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 23m |
| Rise | 09:13 |
| Set | 22:34 |
| Elevation at transit | 62° |
| Transit time | 15:54 |
| Equatorial coordinate | RA: 21h 29m 58s", Dec: 12° 10' 00s |
| Magnitude | 6 |
| Constellation | Pegasus |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M15 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.