Messier 53 - NGC 5024

No dss image available for Messier 53
 
Aladin viewer for the region around Messier 53
Bode 26, Struve 4, h 1558, GC 3453, C 1310+184, GCl 22

Type  Globular Cluster
Magnitude  7.79
Size  12.6'
Right Ascension  13h 12' 55.2"  (2000)
Declination  18° 10' 6" N
Constellation  Coma Berenices
Description  !B, vC, iR, vvmbM, st 12...
Classification  V
Observing Notes

Andrew Cooper
Jun 24, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 61x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

Bright, small, very dense core, not fully resolved

Andrew Cooper
Feb 29, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 61x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 7 Moon: 0%

A bright golbular, easy to fond beside Diadem, round, brighter at the center, not resolved, a pretty field with a scattering of 6-8th magnitude stars

Andrew Cooper
Jun 12, 1999    Pinal Peak, AZ (map)
20cm f/10 SCT

Medium sized glob, not well resolved

Rev. T.W. Webb
May 19, 1885    Hardwick, Herefordshire, England (map)
94mm f/18 Tully Achromat

Brilliant mass of minute stars (h. 11-15), blazing in centre. h., curved appendages. E. of Rosse, diam 3'. Not very bright 3-7/10 in. beautiful 9-in.
― Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, T. W. Webb, 1917

William Herchel
Jan 13, 1784    

A cluster of very close stars; one of the most beautiful objects I remember to have seen in the heavens. The cluster appears under the form of a solid ball, consisting of small stars, quite compressed into one blaze of light, with a great number of loose ones surrounding it, and distinctly visible in the general mass.

Charles Messier
Feb 26, 1777    

Nebula without stars discovered below & near Coma Berenices, a little distant from the star 42 in that constellation, according to Flamsteed. This nebula is round and conspicuous. The Comet of 1779 was compared directly with this nebula, & M. Messier has reported it on the chart of that comet, which will be included in the volume of the Academy for 1779. Observed again April 13, 1781: It resembles the nebula which is below Lepus (M79).
― Connaissance des Temps, 1781

Johann Elert Bode
Feb 3, 1775    Berlin Observatory, Germany (map)

On February 3, 1775, early in the morning, I discovered a nebula north of the star Epsilon or Vindemiatrix at the northern wing of Virgo, about 1 deg east of the 42nd star of Coma Berenices, which appears through the telescope rather vivid and of round shape. The 11th figure shows its position relative to the 42nd star abd some smaller ones which don't appear in the sky charts, between which several separations have been measured.
Other Data Sources for Messier 53
Nearby objects for Messier 53
4 objects found within 60'
Diadem IC 858
NGC 5053
Credits...

Drawings, descriptions, and CCD photos are copyright Andrew Cooper unless otherwise noted, no usage without permission.

A complete list of credits and sources can be found on the about page

Messier 53