Cr261
Open Cluster in Musca
About
An old open cluster in Musca, also listed as Harvard 6, roughly 10,000 light-years away judging from its Gaia parallax. SIMBAD gives its size as 13′ and its integrated V magnitude as about 10.7.
Imaging tips
- At 1860–3110 mm on APS-C the 13′ cluster fills a third to a half of the frame.
- Faint at 24.9 mag/arcsec², so plan many hours of broadband data.
- ESO's red survey view shows the cluster in the upper centre of a field about 29.9′ across.
- Best March and April, but it never rises from 50°N or 35°N: a southern-hemisphere target.
Facts
- Size
- 13′
- Magnitude
- 10.7
- Coordinates
- RA 12h 38.0m, Dec −68° 22′
- Framing, APS-C
- 1860–3110 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 2860–4760 mm
- Best months
- Mar, Apr
- Peak altitude
- never rises from 50°N, never rises from 35°N