M80
NGC 6093
Properties
Position & Identifiers
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About M80
Description
M80 is one of the densest globular clusters in the Milky Way, located about 32,600 light-years from Earth in Scorpius. It contains several hundred thousand stars packed into a sphere only about 95 light-years across. The cluster lies in the rich Milky Way field near Antares and has a notably bright, compact core.
Observing Tips
Located roughly midway between Antares (Alpha Scorpii) and Graffias (Beta Scorpii). In binoculars it appears as a small, bright, star-like fuzzy point. A 4-inch telescope shows an intensely bright, compact glow resembling a comet head. The extremely dense core remains unresolved in all but the largest amateur telescopes. Best observed from May through August.
History
Discovered by Charles Messier on January 4, 1781. On May 21, 1860, a nova (T Scorpii) appeared in the cluster, briefly reaching magnitude 7 and outshining the entire cluster. This was one of only two novae ever observed in a Milky Way globular cluster.
Fun Facts
The nova of 1860 in M80 was a remarkable event — for a few days, a single star outshone the combined light of hundreds of thousands of stars. M80 has an unusually high number of blue stragglers — about twice the predicted number — indicating frequent stellar collisions in its ultra-dense core.
Community Photos (1)
Credit: NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA. License: Public domain. (Wikimedia Commons)
Skybred Feb 28, 2026