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NGC 6356 — Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus

Globular Cluster Good (54/100)
Magnitude 8.4m GlobularCluster Ophiuchus (Oph) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 8.4
Angular Size 5.4′
glob. cl. , vB, cL, vgvmbM, rrr, st 20

Position & Identifiers

RA 17h 23m 36.0s
Dec -17° 49' 00.0"
Constellation Ophiuchus (Oph)
Catalog NGC 6356

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. Easy Easy Medium+
150mm Newt. Easy Easy Easy
C8 203mm Easy Easy Easy
Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

Bortle 3 = rural · 4 = outer suburbs · 5 = suburbs

Easy on Seestar S50

3Visibility

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Best season May – Jul (peak: Jun)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 6356 · 5.4′ diameter · N up, E left

5 Best Magnification

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6 Classification Decoder

Nearby in the Sky

Other targets within a few degrees — pan your scope a little and keep exploring.

Visibility scores assume a 150 mm Newton at Bortle 4.

M9
NGC 6333
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 7.9 1.3° Ophiuchus
NGC 6342
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 9.9 1.9° Ophiuchus
Xi Oph
Medium
Colorful double, sep 4.1″
Double Star mag 4.39 3.4° Ophiuchus
NGC 6325
Medium+
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 10.7 6.1° Ophiuchus
NGC 6440
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 9.7 6.5° Sagittarius
M23
NGC 6494
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 5.5 8.0° Sagittarius
V1010 Oph
Medium+
Eclipsing binary, period 15.9h
Variable Star mag 6.10 8.4° Ophiuchus
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