Observation by Nick Hewitt: Variables in Messier 5

Uploaded by

Nick Hewitt

Observer

Nick Hewitt

Observed

2020 May 13 - 22:06

Uploaded

2020 Jun 04 - 10:18

Objects

Equipment

Celestron 925 EdgeHD at F7
EQ8
Canon 60Da

Exposure

20 x 60s ISO1000

Location

Northampton

Target name

Messier 5

Title

Variables in Messier 5

About this image

Just over 100 years ago, on 26th April 1920,Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis "debated" the Scale of the Universe. Shapley had measured the distances to many globular clusters by a variety of means, one of which was a study of Cepheids within the globulars containing them. Messier 5 is one, with two prominent variables that could still be of interest to amateurs. V42 is a Cepheid, varying between 10.5 and 12. V 84 is an RV Tauri star that ranges 10.85-12.25. V50 is a semiregular variable and quite faint here. There are some super animations on the web: search vanerbei.princeton.edu and Messier 5.

Files associated with this observation

Messier 5 with 3 variables cropped.jpg (357.5 kB)

Like this image

Dr Paul Leyland, Chris Dole, Jeremy Shears, Andy Wilson, David Basey, Nick White, Graham Winstanley, Ron Johnson, Mr Michael Alan Frost, Callum Potter, Peter Carson

Comments

Jeremy Shears, 2020 Jun 04 - 15:33 UTC

Great image Nick. V42 was discovered by BAA member David Elijah Packer in 1890. He also discovered V84.

Nick White, 2020 Jun 05 - 16:07 UTC

Nice shot. Visually star-hopping to find these variables is a great way to get to know a globular cluster.

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