NGC 6541

NGC 6541 is a globular cluster in Corona Australis. It was discovered by Niccolo Cacciatore of the observatory of Palermo, Italy on March 19, 1826, just a few months before James Dunlop found it independently on March 3rd, 1826. Erroneously, Cacciatore first suspected this to be a "new nebula." John Herschel included it in his 1847 cataloh as h 3725, and in his General Catalog as GC 4372, which became NGC 6541 in J. L. E. Dreyer's New General Catalog.

NGC 6541 has a visual magnitude of 6.6, and an apparent diameter of 13.1 arc minutes. It is a medium-sized cluster with a compressed core; it lies in a rich Milky Way field. Dreyer describes it as "Bright" and "Round", with stars of magnitude 15 to 16.

NGC 6541 is 22,800 light years from Earth, located near the galaxy's core - only 7,200 light years from the galactic center. It is moving toward the solar system at 156 km/sec. Photometric studies by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal that NGC 6541 has essentially the same age as M 92 in Hercules.