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47 Tucanae

Globular cluster · Globular cluster in the constellation Tucana

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47 Tucanae
Picture: Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

About 47 Tucanae

47 Tucanae is about 14,742 light-years from the Sun, so the light we see from it left about 14,742 years ago.

It is 24,781 light-years from the centre of the Milky Way.

The map lists it as a globular cluster and shows it among the stars around the Sun, drawn on the plane of the Milky Way.

Key numbers

Distance14,742 light-years (4.52 kpc)
Distance from the Galactic centre24,781 light-years
Galactic coordinatesl = 305.89°, b = -44.89°
Absolute magnitude (V)-9.3
Stellar mass9.12 × 10⁵ suns
Half-light radius13 light-years

Data: Local Volume Database v1.1.1 (Pace 2025).

Where it is

Its place in the universe, from the inside out: Milky Way › Local Group › Virgo Supercluster › Laniakea Supercluster › Observable universe.

Zoom out to see it in context: Local Arm, a view about 12,000 light-years across.

From Wikipedia

47 Tucanae is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Tucana. It is about 4.45 ± 0.01 kpc (14,500 ± 32.6 ly) from Earth, and 120 light years in diameter. 47 Tuc can be seen with the naked eye, with an apparent magnitude of 4.1. It appears about 44 arcminutes across including its far outreaches.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article 47 Tucanae, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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