Globular cluster
M79 (M79)
In Lepus (Lep) • Magnitude 8.6 • 9.6 arcminutes
Open the free AstroPlanner with M79 pre-selected, scored against your telescope, location, and the live cloud forecast.
An unusual globular cluster in Lepus, notable for sitting in the opposite direction from the galactic centre — where most globulars cluster. One hypothesis is that M79 was originally part of the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, a satellite galaxy currently being torn apart and absorbed by the Milky Way.
M79 at a glance
| Catalog IDs | M79, N 1904 |
| Type | Globular cluster |
| Constellation | Lepus (Lep) |
| Right ascension | 05h 24m 29s |
| Declination | -24° 31' 12" |
| Apparent magnitude | 8.56 |
| Surface brightness | 12.0 mag/arcsec² |
| Angular size | 9.6 × 9.6 arcmin |
| Max altitude at 45°N | 20° |
| Best imaging months | Sep, Oct, Nov |
How to image M79
M79 sits in the constellation Lepus at right ascension 05h 24m 29s and declination -24° 31' 12". To frame and integrate it well, AstroPlanner will compute the optimal moonless window for tonight from your location, the field-of-view fit against your sensor and focal length, the suggested total integration time given your aperture and sky Bortle class, and a cloud-aware schedule that drops it from the plan if your nearest cloud forecast spike overlaps the best altitude window.