Messier 54

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title: "Messier 54" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["globular-clusters", "sagittarius-dwarf-spheroidal-galaxy", "sagittarius-(constellation)", "messier-objects", "ngc-objects", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1778", "discoveries-by-charles-messier"] description: "Globular cluster in Sagittarius" topic_path: "general/globular-clusters" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_54" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Globular cluster in Sagittarius ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox globular cluster"]

Field	Value
name	Messier 54
image	[[Image:Messier 54 HST.jpg
caption	M54 by Hubble Space Telescope; 3.4 view
epoch	J2000
class	III
constellation	Sagittarius
ra
dec
dist_ly	87.4 kly
appmag_v	7.6
size_v	12.0
radius_ly	153 ly
age	13 Gyr
last1	Geisler
last2	Wallerstein
last3	Smith
last4	Casetti-Dinescu
date	2007
title	Chemical Abundances and Kinematics in Globular Clusters and Local Group Dwarf Galaxies and Their Implications for Formation Theories of the Galactic Halo
journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
volume	119
bibcode	2007PASP..119..939G
doi	10.1086/521990
arxiv	0708.0570
notes	Probably extragalactic
names	M54, NGC 6715, GCl 104, C 1851-305
::

| name = Messier 54 | image = [[Image:Messier 54 HST.jpg|300px]] | caption = M54 by Hubble Space Telescope; 3.4 view | credit = | epoch = J2000 | class = III | constellation = Sagittarius | ra = | dec = | dist_ly = 87.4 kly | appmag_v = 7.6 | size_v = 12.0 | mass_kg = | mass_msol = | radius_ly = 153 ly | v_hb = | age = 13 Gyr | last1 = Geisler | first1 = Doug | last2 = Wallerstein | first2 = George | last3 = Smith | first3 = Verne V. | last4 = Casetti-Dinescu | first4 = Dana I. | date = 2007 | title = Chemical Abundances and Kinematics in Globular Clusters and Local Group Dwarf Galaxies and Their Implications for Formation Theories of the Galactic Halo | journal = Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific | volume = 119 | issue = 859 | pages = 939–961 | bibcode = 2007PASP..119..939G | doi = 10.1086/521990 |arxiv = 0708.0570 | s2cid = 119599242 | notes = Probably extragalactic | names = M54, NGC 6715, GCl 104, C 1851-305

Messier 54 (also known as M54 or NGC 6715) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1778 and then included in his catalog of objects that could be mistaken for comets.

It is easily found in the sky, being close to the star ζ Sagittarii. It is, however, not resolvable into individual stars even with larger amateur telescopes.

In July 2009, a team of astronomers reported that they had found evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole in the core of M54.

Distance

Previously thought to belong to the Milky Way at a distance from Earth of about 50,000 light-years, it was discovered in 1994 that M54 most likely belongs to the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (SagDEG), | last1 = Siegel | first1 = Michael H. | display-authors = 4 | last2 = Dotter | first2 = Aaron | last3 = Majewski | first3 = Steven R. | last4 = Sarajedini | first4 = Ata | last5 = Chaboyer | first5 = Brian | last6 = Nidever | first6 = David L. | last7 = Anderson | first7 = Jay | last8 = Marín-Franch | first8 = Antonio | last9 = Rosenberg | first9 = Alfred | date = 2007 | title = The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters: M54 and Young Populations in the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy | journal = Astrophysical Journal Letters | volume = 667 | issue = 1 | page = L57–L60 | bibcode = 2007ApJ...667L..57S | doi = 10.1086/522003 |arxiv = 0708.0027 | last10 = Bedin | first10 = Luigi R. | last11 = Aparicio | first11 = Antonio | last12 = King | first12 = Ivan | last13 = Piotto | first13 = Giampaolo | last14 = Reid | first14 = I. Neill | s2cid = 119626792 | author=Carretta, E. | display-authors=4 | author2=Bragaglia, A. | author3=Gratton, R. G. | author4=Lucatello, S. | author5=Bellazzini, M. | author6=Catanzaro, G. | author7=Leone, F. | author8=Momany, Y. | author9=Piotto, G. | author10=D'Orazi, V. | title=M54 + Sagittarius = ω Centauri | journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters | date=2010 | volume=714 | issue=1 | pages=L7–L11 | bibcode=2010ApJ...714L...7C | doi=10.1088/2041-8205/714/1/L7|arxiv = 1002.1963 | s2cid=118440761 | author=Bellazzini, M. | display-authors=4 | author2=Ibata, R. A. | author3=Chapman, S. C. | author4=Mackey, A. D. | author5=Monaco, L. | author6=Irwin, M. J. | author7=Martin, N. F. | author8=Lewis, G. F. | author9=Dalessandro, E. | title=The Nucleus of the Sagittarius Dsph Galaxy and M54: a Window on the Process of Galaxy Nucleation | journal=The Astronomical Journal | date=2008 | volume=136 | issue=3 | pages=1147–1170 | bibcode=2008AJ....136.1147B | doi=10.1088/0004-6256/136/3/1147|arxiv = 0807.0105 | s2cid=53486171

Modern estimates now place M54 at a distance of some 87,000 light-years, translating into a true radius of 150 light-years across. It is one of the denser of the globulars, being of class III (I being densest and XII being the least dense). It shines with the luminosity of roughly 850,000 times that of the Sun and has an absolute magnitude of −10.0.[[File:M54map.png|thumbnail|Map showing location of M54]]

References and footnotes

References

1. "Messier 54".
2. From [[trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 153 ly.
3. (August 1927). "A Classification of Globular Clusters". Harvard College Observatory Bulletin.
4. (December 2010). "The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. X. New Determinations of Centers for 65 Clusters". The Astronomical Journal.
5. "M 54".
6. (2005). "Chandra observations of the globular cluster M54". Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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