M14

M14 is a moderately bright globular cluster in Ophiuchus, about 30,300 light-years from Earth. It is slightly elliptical in shape and contains several hundred thousand stars in a sphere about 100 light-years across. The cluster is notable for containing an unusually high number of variable stars.

Located in a relatively barren area of Ophiuchus, about 8 degrees south of M10. It can be tricky to star-hop to without a goto mount. In binoculars it appears as a small, round fuzzy patch. A 6-inch telescope shows a bright, unresolved glow with a concentrated center. Resolving individual stars requires at least 8-10 inches and high magnification due to the cluster's distance. Best observed from June through August.

Discovered by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764. He described it as a 'nebula without stars.' It remained unresolved until William Herschel turned his large telescopes on it in the 1780s. A nova was discovered in the cluster in 1938 on photographic plates — it had actually peaked in 1933 at magnitude 9.2.