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Messier 2 is a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius.
It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 when he was observing
a comet with Jacques Cassini.
Charles Messier rediscovered it in 1760 and thought it a nebula without
any stars associated with it.
William Herschel was the first to resolve individual stars in
the cluster in 1794.
Spanning 175 light-years across, M2 is one of the larger
globular clusters known.
The cluster is rich, compact, and significantly elliptical.
At 13 billion years old it is also one of the older globulars associated
with the Milky Way Galaxy.
The distance of M2 is about 37,500 light-years away from Earth and the
cluster contains about 150,000 stars.
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