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NGC 2281    

NGC 2281 is a small, relatively bright open cluster lying outside the stream of the Winter Milky Way along the eastern edge of the constellation Auriga. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1788. Visually, it has a diameter of around 25 arc-min and a magnitude of 5.4, making it just visible to the naked eye under dark sky conditions. It lies at a distance of around 1800 LY and contains 119 member stars. The age of the cluster is estimated to be around 300 million years.
If the brighter stars in the cluster look a bit "bloated" in my image, it is largely due to the fact that many are double or multiple systems. NGC 2281 has a large percentage (greater than 25%) of its brighter members as double or multiple stars. The combined masses of these systems help keep them close to the center of the cluster. Single stars, with their lower masses, tend to drift away from the cluster over time.

Date(s) Acquired: 16 December 2015
Telescope: Orion 120mm EON Apochromatic Refractor
Camera: QSI Model 583

 

   Exposure Time (min) 
   Number of Exposures
   RGB
   1.5
   
   -
   
   -
   OIII
   -
   RGB
   16
   
   0
   
   0
   OIII
   0

 

Processing:
Master red, green, and blue images created using SuperSIAM.
Color composite image created using Basic Processing Procedure III.
Color composite image contrast-stretched using Adobe Photoshop.




 

 

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