NGC 5986 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Lupus, located at a distance of approximately 34 kilolight-years from the Sun.[3] It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 10, 1826. John L. E. Dreyer described it as, "a remarkable object, a globular cluster, very bright, large, round, very gradually brighter middle, stars of 13th to 15th magnitude".[8] Its prograde–retrograde orbit through the Milky Way galaxy is considered irregular and highly eccentric. It has a mean heliocentric radial velocity of +100 km/s.[4] The galacto-centric distance is 17 kly (5.2 kpc), which puts it in the galaxy's inner halo.[9]
This is relatively massive cluster has been poorly studied, at least as of 2017.[4] It is moderately concentrated, with a core radius of 28.2″ and a projected half-light radius of 58.8″. The three dimensional half-mass radius is ~78.16″.[10] The cluster has a higher metallicity – what astronomers term the abundance of elements with higher atomic number then helium – compared to most other objects of its type.[11] It may have at least 4–5 different stellar populations with distinct elemental compositions, and there is evidence that it has lost ~60–80% of its original mass.[4]
^Shapley, Harlow; Sawyer, Helen B. (August 1927), "A Classification of Globular Clusters", Harvard College Observatory Bulletin, 849 (849): 11–14, Bibcode:1927BHarO.849...11S.
^Ortolani, S.; et al. (October 2000). "Colour-magnitude diagrams of the inner halo globular clusters NGC 5986 and NGC 6712". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 362: 953–958. Bibcode:2000A&A...362..953O.
^Lanzoni, B.; et al. (September 2018), "The ESO Multi-instrument Kinematic Survey (MIKiS) of Galactic Globular Clusters: Solid-body Rotation and Anomalous Velocity Dispersion Profile in NGC 5986", The Astrophysical Journal, 865 (1): 9, arXiv:1808.01194, Bibcode:2018ApJ...865...11L, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aad810, S2CID119414659, 11.