IC 4499

A globular cluster of the far southern skies, IC 4499 lies in the southern reaches of Apus, the Bird of Paradise, where that constellation approaches the borders of the south polar constellation of Octans. Typically for a globular cluster, IC 4499 is an ancient object, some twelve billion years old, and in that time two generations of stars have formed within it.

This cluster has a diameter approaching 150 light years, within which its stars are rather less densely packed than in many comparable globular clusters. IC 4499 lies approximately 60,000 light years from the Sun, across the galactic disc of the Milky Way.