C106 — 47 Tucanae
Globular Cluster in Tucana
About
Catalogued as NGC 104, 47 Tucanae is a globular cluster in Tucana, roughly 14,500 light-years away and about 120 light-years wide. Only Omega Centauri outshines it among globulars. The Small Magellanic Cloud looks like its neighbour, yet that galaxy is over fifteen times farther away.
Imaging tips
- At 810–1350 mm on APS-C the cluster fills a third to half of the frame. It spans about 30′.
- At magnitude 4 and 20.0 mag/arcsec² it is bright. One published LRGB image used only about 1.5 hours (14 × 2 min luminance, 4 × 5 min each colour), under a bright Moon.
- NGC 362 lies roughly 3.3° away, so both fit only in a wide-field frame.
- Best in September and October, but it never rises from 35°N or 50°N: a southern-hemisphere target.
Facts
- Size
- 30′
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Coordinates
- RA 0h 24.0m, Dec −72° 5′
- Framing, APS-C
- 810–1350 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 1240–2060 mm
- Best months
- Sep, Oct
- Peak altitude
- never rises from 50°N, never rises from 35°N