M 12 NGC 6218 Gumball Globular Cluster

Capture

Seestar s50 73 stacks

Date

14 July 2026

Location

Camden, NSW

Original

1748 × 3318 px

M 12 NGC 6218 Gumball Globular Cluster is a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus and is16,400-23,000 light-years from Earth. Its diameter is 85 light years and its estimated mass is 250,000 solar masses. Messier 12 is invisible to the naked eye, but can be seen as a hazy patch with binoculars in good conditions, with clear dark skies. Resolving the stars require a 8 in or larger telescope. M12 lacks low-mass stars because gravity stripped them as it orbited through dense Milky Way regions, losing up to one million stars. Apparent magnitude 7.7.

See it in the star clusters gallery