| Description | Discovered 1775 by Johann Elert Bode, Messier added M53 on February 26, 1777, a gap of 2 years and 5 months. He notes: "Nebula without stars discovered below & near Coma Berenices.... This nebula is round and conspicuous. The Comet of 1779 was compared directly with this nebula, & M. Messier has reported it on the chart of that comet, which will be included in the volume of the Academy for 1779. Reviewed on April 13, 1781" <--> M53 may rank only 14th and 18th respectively among Messier GCs in brightness and diameter. But if you like cluster with a round, nearly edge-to-edge bright core, this would be up there for you. The Blue and Orange star "tendrils" offer some relief from strict symmetry. This was one of the few GC observations where I wasn't observing on a sub-par night. I ook advantage of a late evening to continue my Messier quest at a time when the moon was still low enough to allow a quality capture. |
