M71 Observation Details
M71 Daily Motion
M71 will reach its transit before twilight, at 14:22. By the onset of twilight at 18:15, it will be at elevation, and it will set before sunrise, at 21:27.M71 will be visible until December, 29, 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.
M71 Visibility Timetable on December 21
Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M71 transit | 14:22 | 69° |
| Sunset | 17:08 | 48° |
| Civil sunset | 17:40 | 42° |
| Astrosession begin | 18:48 | 30° |
| M71 set | 21:27 | |
| Moon Rise, 57% illuminated | 23:50 | -22° |
| Astrosession end | 06:13 | -10° |
| M71 rise | 07:13 | |
| Civil sunrise | 07:20 | 1° |
| Sunrise | 07:52 | 7° |
| Moon Set | 12:24 | 58° |
Track M71 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 21 December 2024 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M71 - Globular Cluster
M71 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Sagitta. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and later cataloged by Charles Messier in 1780. The cluster is relatively loose for a globular cluster.
M71 spans about 27 light-years across and contains around 10,000 stars. The cluster is approximately 13,000 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.2, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M71 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 M71
| Object name | M71 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M71 coordinates | 19.89614, 18.77839 |
| Center coordinates | 19.89614, 18.77839 |
M71 Passage Through Night
Current position of M71
| Time | 12:01 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M71 elevation | 53° |
| M71 Azimuth | -114° |
Annual motion of M71
| Date | Sun, 22 December 2024 |
| Twighlight start | 18:44 |
| Twighlight end | 06:07 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 23m |
| Rise | 07:13 |
| Set | 21:23 |
| Elevation at transit | 69° |
| Transit time | 14:18 |
| Equatorial coordinate | RA: 19h 53m 46s", Dec: 18° 46' 42s |
| Magnitude | 6 |
| Constellation | Sagitta |
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 M71 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.