NGC 5897

NGC 5897 in Libra is one of the brighter globular clusters that was not discovered by Charles Messier. Instead, it was first seen by William Herschel in 1784 or 1785. Despite lying about 41,000 light years from Earth, this cluster shines at a visual magnitude of about 8 1/2 and is easily seen in modest amateur telescopes.

Image taken June 20, 2012, with the C-14 operating at F:3.5 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Exposure is 400 seconds.