About NGC 6981 (M72)

NGC 6981 is a rewarding deep-sky target and shows up as a faint patch of light. It is quite faint.

Current visibility

It is currently below the horizon.

It stays above 30° for roughly 8 hours.

Observing conditions matter, subtle features are easily lost in bright skies.

Observing tips

It requires patience and good conditions.

What to expect

At higher magnification, subtle detail can be detected.

It is less prominent than the brightest objects in the catalog.

Type

Globular Cluster

Constellation

Aquarius

Distance

52800 ly

Size

5.1'

Season

Summer

Difficulty

Moderate

Magnitude

9.3