Target guide · globular cluster

M75 with a smart telescope

M75 is a globular cluster about 6 arcminutes (0.10°) across, magnitude 8.6. It is highest around midnight in July, best placed for the southern hemisphere, and bright enough to image from a suburb or even a city. It is larger than every native frame we track, or too small to fill one, so plan a mosaic or a crop.

Key facts

CatalogueM75
Typeglobular cluster
Apparent size6′ × 6′
Magnitude8.6
Position (J2000)RA 20.10 h, Dec -21.9°
Highest at midnightJuly (±2 weeks)
Sky neededCity-friendly surface brightness 21.1 mag/arcsec²

In the best-matching frame

M75 · 6′ × 6′
M75 (blue) inside the native frame of Seestar S30 (2.14° × 1.21°).

Imaging tips

Globular clusters are bright and compact. Short sessions already give a good result from town; a narrower field of view shows more individual stars in the core. M75 is one of the easier targets from light-polluted skies.

Which smart telescope frames it best

TelescopeField of viewFit
Unistellar Odyssey0.75° × 0.56°small in the frame
Unistellar Odyssey Pro0.75° × 0.56°small in the frame
ZWO Seestar S501.29° × 0.73°small in the frame
Celestron Origin Mark II1.32° × 0.75°small in the frame
DWARFLAB DWARF mini2.13° × 1.2°small in the frame
ZWO Seestar S302.14° × 1.21°small in the frame
ZWO Seestar S50 Pro2.45° × 1.38°small in the frame
Vaonis Vespera II2.5° × 1.4°small in the frame
Vaonis Vespera 32.5° × 1.4°small in the frame
Vaonis Vespera Pro 21.6° × 1.6°small in the frame
DWARFLAB DWARF 32.93° × 1.65°small in the frame
ZWO Seestar S30 Pro3.99° × 2.24°small in the frame

How high it gets from where you live

Highest altitude above a flat horizon. Below about 20° the image suffers from haze and light pollution; trees and roofs often block it completely.

LatitudeHighest altitude
Oslo, 60° N8°
Amsterdam, 52° N16°
Madrid, 40° N28°
Miami, 26° N42°
Equator68°
Sydney, 34° S78°
See if it clears your own horizon tonight

Nearby in the sky

Objects close to M75 in the sky, so you can image them in the same session.

Questions and answers

Can I photograph M75 from a city?
Yes. It is bright enough to image from a suburb or even a city.
Which smart telescope is best for M75?
None of the smart telescopes we track frames it well in one frame; plan a mosaic or a crop.
When is the best time to photograph M75?
It is highest around midnight in July and best placed for the southern hemisphere. From 52° north it climbs to about 16° at most.

Object data: Messier catalogue via d3-celestial (BSD-3). Altitudes and dates are calculated, not observed.