Last night was the star party at my kids' school (see post below). We had about 50 people in attendance and 6 telescopes - so a good time was had by all.
By the time things got going M13 was too low in the sky for viewing, but I still wanted to show the kids a globular cluster. These fascinating objects are excellent star party targets - not only do they look great at the eyepiece, but their sheer age is astounding. Perhaps the oldest of all is M15 at over 13 billion years - almost as old as the universe itself. In addition to its age, M15 is remarkable for being one of the densest globular clusters - and is widely thought to have a massive black hole at its center.
Even from the field at my kids' school, with substantial light from the school building and parking lot, M15 looked great: bright with clearly resolved stars and structure.
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