Globular Cluster NGC 6712

The globular cluster NGC 6712 and its surroundings. The image to the left shows the five fields that were extensively observed with the VLT Test Camera on 23 August 1998, within the VLT UT1 Science Verification Programme. The reproduction is based on 15-min CCD exposures through an optical filter, transmitting red light (wavelength approx. 700 nm). The photo to the right has been reproduced from a photographic plate obtained with the UK 48-inch Schmidt telescope (Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia) during a survey of the southern sky. It shows this globular cluster in a rich stellar field, just south of the galactic plane. Each of the five VLT fields measures about 1.5 arcmin on a side, or about 10 light-years at the distance of the cluster. The Schmidt field, in which the outline of the VLT fields is indicated, covers about 12 x 12 square arcmin. North is up and East is left.