NGC 7006 (also known as Caldwell 42) is a

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Delphinus Delphinus (Pronounced or ) is a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere, close to the celestial equator. Its name is the Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-Europea ...

. NGC 7006 resides in the outskirts of the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

. It is about 135,000 light-years away, five times the distance between the Sun and the centre of the galaxy, and it is part of the

galactic halo A galactic halo is an extended, roughly spherical component of a galaxy which extends beyond the main, visible component. Several distinct components of galaxies comprise the halo: * the stellar halo * the galactic corona (hot gas, i.e. a plasma) ...

. This roughly spherical region of the Milky Way is made up of dark matter, gas and sparsely distributed stellar clusters. NGC 7006 appears in the science fiction novel '' Beyond the Farthest Star'' by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

, where it is used as a point of reference by the inhabitants of the planet Poloda to determine the approximate location of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Gallery

File:NGC 7006 HST.jpg, NGC 7006 imaged by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. File:NGC 7006 au télescope amateur.png, NGC 7006 imaged by an amateur telescope.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 7006 Globular clusters Delphinus 7006 042b