Class XII Right ascension 21 46 38.84 Apparent magnitude (V) 11.99 | Constellation Capricornus Declination –21° 15′ 09.4″ | |
 | ||
Distance 63.6 ± 2.9 kly (19.50 ± 0.89 kpc) | ||
Palomar 12 is a globular cluster in the constellation Capricornus.
First discovered on the National Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky Survey plates by Robert George Harrington and Fritz Zwicky, it was catalogued as a globular cluster. However Zwicky came to believe this was actually a nearby dwarf galaxy in the Local Group. It is a relatively young cluster, being about 30% younger than most of the globular clusters in the Milky Way. It is metal-rich with a metallicity of [Fe/H] ~= -0.8. It has an average luminosity distribution of Mv = -4.48.
Based on proper motion studies, this cluster was first suspected in 2000 to have been captured from the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy about 1.7 Ga ago. It is now generally believed to be a member of that galaxy. It is estimated to be 6.5 Gyr old.