Re: What naked-eye object lies closest to the galactic core?

Hello, Denni,
In order to answer your question, I made some basic assumptions. First, the object should be within about ten degrees of the star gamma Sagittarius. The center of the Galaxy is in that general direction, and it gives us a good reference to use. Second, I would only look for objects that could be discernible to the naked eye under ideal conditions, magnitude 6 was my limit as you suggested. I also tried to identify objects that I had seen unaided. Third, I limited it to the northern hemisphere. This left me with a list of six Messier objects.

In order for us to see an object it must be either very bright or very close. All the above objects are fairly close and lie in the direction of the center of the Galaxy. It appears that M22 is the farthest object from us that is visible under dark skies; therefore it should be the closest object to the center of the Galaxy that we can see from here. The only objects closer to the Galactic core that would be visible would be those stars that make up the Milky Way in that direction. We can see the Milky Way that is behind all the above objects and those stars are closer to the center of the Galaxy.

[The magnitudes and distances for these objects are taken from the SEDS Messier Database. There appears to be some slight disagreements among various sources regarding the magnitudes and distances. The disagreements in magnitudes may be due to slightly different means of determining the magnitudes. As for the distances, determining distances is extremely tough, so all the distances should be taken as approximate, but there may be relatively large errors in any given distance. Moderator]