NGC 6712

NGC 6712 is a globular cluster that was probably discovered by Le Gentil on July 9, 1749 when investigating the Milky Way star cloud in Aquila. He described it as a "true nebula," in contrast to the open star cluster M11. Independently discovered by William Herschel on June 16, 1784 and cataloged as H I.47; he also first classified it as a round nebula. John Herschel was the first to describe it as a globular star cluster during his observations in the 1830s. The cluster appears to be about 12 billion years old and may have originally have been significantly more massive having undergone significant mass loss due to passes through the galactic disc.[3]

NGC 6712
NGC 6712, by HST
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Class	IX:[1]
Constellation	Scutum
Right ascension	18^h 53^m 04.32^s[2]
Declination	–08° 42′ 21.5″[2]
Distance	26.4 kly (8.1 kpc)<[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)	+8.69[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)	7.2'
Physical characteristics
Mass	9.4×10^4[4] M☉
Metallicity	${\displaystyle {\begin{smallmatrix}\left[{\ce {Fe}}/{\ce {H}}\right]\end{smallmatrix}}}$ = –0.94[5] dex
Estimated age	10.4 Gyr[5]
Other designations	GCl 103,[2] GC 4441

References

1. Shapley, Harlow; Sawyer, Helen B. (August 1927), "A Classification of Globular Clusters", Harvard College Observatory Bulletin, 849 (849): 11–14, Bibcode:1927BHarO.849...11S.
2. "SIMBAD Astronomical Database". Results for NGC 6712. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
3. Deras, D; Ferro, A Arellano; Lázaro, C; Fierro, I H Bustos; Calderón, J H; Muneer, S; Sunetra, Giridhar (22 January 2020). "NGC 6712: the variable star population of a tidally disrupted globular cluster". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 493 (2): 1996–2014. arXiv:2001.08306. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa196.
4. Marks, Michael; Kroupa, Pavel (August 2010), "Initial conditions for globular clusters and assembly of the old globular cluster population of the Milky Way", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 406 (3): 2000–2012, arXiv:1004.2255, Bibcode:2010MNRAS.406.2000M, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16813.x. Mass is from M_PD on Table 1.
5. Forbes, Duncan A.; Bridges, Terry (May 2010), "Accreted versus in situ Milky Way globular clusters", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 404 (3): 1203–1214, arXiv:1001.4289, Bibcode:2010MNRAS.404.1203F, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16373.x.

External links

• Media related to NGC 6712 at Wikimedia Commons
• NGC 6712 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images
• Simbad
• Webda
• NGC 6712