Globular cluster NGC 6723 in Sagittarius

by: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix
Reference: a-agb67-23001
Date: 2006-09-16

This bright globular cluster is in Sagittarius but just on the border of Corona Australis. It is at a distance of about 30,000 light years. Despite appearing very close on the sky to some serious interstellar obscuration in the Corona Australis molecular cloud the cluster is seen almost undimmed in this short AAT exposure. NGC 6723 is a bright cluster, similar to M3. Though it is conspicuous and visible from the latitude of Paris it has no Messier number, probably because its southern declination (-36 degrees) made it difficult to observe.

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