As the galactic plane does not pass through this part of Serpens, a view to many galaxies beyond it is possible. However, a few structures of the Milky Way Galaxy are present in Serpens Caput, such as Messier 5, a globular cluster positioned approximately 8° southwest of α Serpentis, next to the star 5 Serpentis. Barely visible to the naked eye under good conditions,[84] and is located approximately 25,000 ly distant.[85] Messier 5 contains a large number of known RR Lyrae variable stars,[86] and is receding from us at over 50 km/s.[87] The cluster contains two millisecond pulsars, one of which is in a binary, allowing the proper motion of the cluster to be measured.