The Hercules Cluster M13 is a messier object that is also known as the Messier 13 or M13. It was seen in last night's sky and can also be seen tonight as well above the horizon in the northeast sky. In order to spot the Hercules Cluster M13 you must find the "Keystone". This is the body of Hercules. The stars that form the "Keystone" are Eta Herculis, Pi Herculis, Epsilon Herculis, and Zeta Herculis (Rao). This cluster was first discovered in 1715 by Edmund Halley, but was not named until 1764 by Charles Messier. This cluster is actually really close to us which is why it is easy to see with the naked eye. It holds a wide variety of different types of stars in the cluster such as white dwarfs, red dwarfs, red giants, and some sun-like ones. It holds a very dense core region with many stars compacting this cluster (Siegel).
The picture below shows what the Hercules Cluster M13 looks like through the Microobservatory Telescope.
Photo By: Microobservatory
Citations:
Rao, Joe. "How To See The Great Hercules Cluster Of Stars". Space.com. 21, Jun. 2011. Web. 15. Dec. 2015. <http://www.space.com/12021-hercules-star-cluster-night-sky-m13-messier.html>.
Siegel, Ethan. "Messier Monday: The Great Globular Cluster In Hercules, M13". ScienceBlogs: Stars With A Bang. 31, Dec. 2012. Web. 15, Dec. 2015. <http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/12/31/messier-monday-the-great-globular-cluster-in-hercules-m13/>
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