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NGC 6553 — Globular Cluster in Sagittarius

Globular Cluster Good (59/100)
Magnitude 8.3m GlobularCluster Sagittarius (Sgr) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 8.3
Angular Size 5.4′
glob. cl. , F, L, lE, vglbM, rr, st 20

Position & Identifiers

RA 18h 09m 18.0s
Dec -25° 53' 60.0"
Constellation Sagittarius (Sgr)
Catalog NGC 6553

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. Easy Easy Easy
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 6553 · 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.

NGC 6544
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 8.3 1.0° Sagittarius
NGC 6530
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 4.6 1.9° Sagittarius
9 Sgr
Easy
Hot blue O-type star
Star mag 5.97 2.0° Sagittarius
M8
NGC 6523
Easy
Emission nebula — try an OIII filter
Emission Nebula mag 5.8 2.0° Sagittarius
IC 4678
Medium
Diffuse nebula
Diffuse Nebula mag 10.40 2.1° Sagittarius
M28
NGC 6626
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 6.9 3.6° Sagittarius
NGC 6528
Easy
Compact globular cluster
Globular Cluster mag 9.5 4.3° Sagittarius
NGC 6522
Easy
Compact globular cluster
Globular Cluster mag 8.6 4.3° Sagittarius
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