Constellations

The wreck of the supernova Chinese astronomers recorded in 1054 AD. A pulsar spinning 30 times a second sits at its heart.

6,500 light years

A dense ball of 150,000 stars in Aquarius, one of the oldest globulars known at about 13 billion years.

Half a million stars packed into a sphere; it holds more variable stars than any other globular cluster.

The closest globular cluster to us, easy to find right beside Antares, and full of ancient white dwarfs.

Often called the finest globular in the northern sky, slightly older and richer than M13.

The Butterfly Cluster, a spray of hot blue stars in Scorpius with one orange giant for contrast.

Ptolemy's Cluster, bright enough that it was recorded by name in 130 AD.

A huge star nursery split by a dark lane, visible to the naked eye from a dark site above the Teapot's spout.

4,100 light years

A globular cluster in Ophiuchus, about 7 arcminutes across.

A globular cluster in Ophiuchus, about 9 arcminutes across.

The Wild Duck Cluster, a tight V of hundreds of stars in the Scutum star cloud.

A loose globular in Ophiuchus that has been stripped of a million stars by passes through the galactic disc.

Several hundred thousand ancient stars packed into a ball. The 1974 Arecibo message was aimed at it.

22,200 light years

A globular cluster in Ophiuchus, about 10 arcminutes across.

One of the densest globulars known; its core may hide an intermediate-mass black hole.

Home of the Pillars of Creation, the towers of gas made famous by Hubble in 1995.

7,000 light years

The Omega or Swan Nebula, a bright bar of glowing hydrogen with a hidden cluster inside.

An open cluster in Sagittarius, about 6 arcminutes across.

A globular cluster in Ophiuchus, about 8 arcminutes across.

A red glowing cloud cut into three by dust lanes, wrapped in a blue reflection nebula.

5,200 light years

An open cluster in Sagittarius, about 6 arcminutes across.

A huge, close globular in Sagittarius, brighter than M13 for anyone far enough south.

An open cluster in Sagittarius, about 17 arcminutes across.

Not a cluster but a window through the dust to a distant arm of the Milky Way.