![[m107.gif]](large/m107.gif)
| Right Ascension | 16 : 32.5 (h:m) |
|---|---|
| Declination | -13 : 03 (deg:m) |
| Distance | 19.6 (kly) |
| Visual Brightness | 7.9 (mag) |
| Apparent Dimension | 10.0 (arc min) |
M107 is another additional object found by Pierre Mechain in April, 1782. Herewith, it is probably the Messier object which was the latest to be discovered. Eventually, Helen Sawyer Hogg added it to the Messier list in 1747. William Herschel, who had independently discovered it.
M107 apparently contains some dark obscured regions, which is unusual for globular clusters. The star distribution is called "very open" by Kenneth Glyn Jones, who points out that this cluster "enables the interstellar regions to be examined more easily, and globular clusters are important `laboratories' in which to study the process by which galaxies evolve."
Visually, M107 is about 3 minutes of arc across, while in photos it extends over a region more than 3 times this diameter (about 10'). As its distance is about 20,000 light years, this corresponds to roughly 60 light years. M107 is approaching us at 147 km/sec, contains about 25 known variables, and as a globular cluster, is of intermediate metalicity.
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