IC-1257 - A NEW GLOBULAR-CLUSTER IN THE GALACTIC HALO

New CCD photometry of the faint, compact star cluster IC 1257 (l = 17 degrees, b = +15 degrees), obtained with the Palomar 5 m telescope,(1) reveals that it is a highly reddened globular cluster well beyond the Galactic center. With an apparent distance modulus (m - M)(V) = 19.2 and a foreground reddening E(B - V) = 0.75, it is 24 kpc from the Sun and similar to 16 kpc beyond the Galactic center. The morphology of it s color-magnitude diagram is similar to that of M13, and suggests that it has moderately low metallicity ([Fe/H] similar or equal to -1.7). (C) 1997 American Astronomical Society.