M79 - NGC 1904

Messier 79 (NGC 1904) is a globular cluster located approximately 41,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lepus, south of Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1780 and cataloged by Charles Messier shortly afterward. M79 is unusual among globular clusters because of its position in the sky and its orbital properties. Most of the Milky Way's globular clusters are concentrated toward the galactic center in Sagittarius, but M79 lies in nearly the opposite direction, making it one of the few globular clusters visible in the winter sky. Research suggests that M79 may not have originally belonged to the Milky Way at all but was instead captured from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, a small satellite galaxy that is currently being absorbed by our galaxy. This extragalactic origin would explain its unusual position relative to the Milky Way's center. M79 has a moderately concentrated structure with a Shapley-Sawyer class of V and spans about 118 light-years in diameter. The cluster has a visual magnitude of about 7.7 and contains a significant population of blue straggler stars concentrated in and near the core. Its color-magnitude diagram shows a well-developed blue horizontal branch, typical of old, metal-poor globular clusters, and it is estimated to be about 11.7 billion years old. For amateur observers, M79 is easy to locate about 4 degrees south of the star Beta Leporis. In binoculars it appears as a fuzzy star, while a 6-inch telescope begins to resolve the outer regions into individual stars. The cluster's winter visibility makes it a welcome change from the summer globular clusters that dominate the Messier list.

M79 spans approximately 118 light-years in diameter and lies about 41,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lepus.