M11

From South Dublin Astronomical Society

M11
Type	Open cluster
NGC	NGC 6705
Constellation	Scutum
Right Ascension	18h 51.1m
Declination	-6° 16’
Magnitude
Size	14 arc min.
Image:M11 messier image.jpg

Within the same binocular field as fourth magnitude 12 Aquilae is the rich open cluster M11, also known as the Wild Duck. The moniker is derived from a description of M11 in the nineteenth century when Admiral Smyth wrote that it resembled “a flight of wild ducks”. The group lies at the northern edge of the Scutum Star Cloud, a bright segment of the Milky Way that is visible to the naked eye. Binoculars show a broad fan-shaped glow that appears more concentrated towards the eastern edge. A small “knot” to the southeast is the combined light of two unrelated ninth magnitude stars, one of which is the variable V369 Scuti. The unusual variable R Scuti is 1º to the northeast. The cluster’s stars are too faint to be resolved in binoculars but about 500 members are brighter than magnitude 14 with the majority classified as A- and F-type stars on the main sequence.