Exoplanet Observatory

91157278

M71 was once thought to be an open cluster of stars due to its loosely packed central region as shown in this zoom-in view. However, as more data were gathered, M71 is now understood to be a relatively young globular cluster with the age around 9 to 10 billion years old. M71 Globular Cluster is located at the edge of our Milky Way galaxy approximately 13,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagitta (Latin name for the Arrow). Globular clusters contain mainly ancient stars densely condensed together by gravitational attraction and exists at the edge of large galaxies. Astronomers have discovered around 150 such globular clusters in our Milky Way galaxy.