M14 is one of the brighter globular clusters and is unusual for its slightly elliptical shape. Although apparently dimmer than its two Ophiuchus globular cousins, M10 and M12, it is considerably more distant and is therefore more intrinsically luminous. It is estimated to have an absolute luminosity 400,000 times greater than our sun. M14 is rich in variable stars which number around 70. M14 is one of Charles Messier's first discoveries (1764). M14 is one of the few globular clusters to host a nova retrospectively discovered in 1964 by Amelia Wehlau of the University of Western Ontario who surveyed photographic plates taken in 1938.