- NGC 2360 Caroline's Cluster
NGC 2360 is a compact open cluster located in the constellation Canis Major. It was named after Caroline Herschel, who discovered it on 26 February 1783. The cluster contains around 90 member stars within an area around 14 arc-min across. It has a physical diameter of 15 LY and lies at a distance of around 3700 LY. The apparent magnitude of the cluster is 7.2, making it undetectable to the naked eye but a nice target for small telescopes.
The bright star along the right edge of my image is HD 56405, a spectral class A star located in the foreground (distance 270 LY) of the cluster. The brightest star appearing within the area of the cluster (HD 56847), lying along its left edge, also appears to be a foreground star (distance 1305 LY).
|