Q1045478

open cluster in Taurus

Key facts

Right ascension: 05 12 15.(0)
Declination: +16 ° 41 ′ 2(4) ″
Distance: 6,430 ly (1,972 pc )
Apparent dimensions v: 9.3′
Estimated age: 0.8−1.2 Gyr
Other designations: C 0509+166, Collinder 60
Constellation: Taurus

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: open cluster
Constellation: Taurus
Distance from Earth: 1972
Image: NGC 1817 DSS.jpg

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catalog code: Collinder 60
Commons category: NGC 1817
discoverer or inventor: William Herschel
time of discovery or invention: 1784-02-19
apparent magnitude: 7.7
right ascension: 78.0625
declination: 16.6900
radial velocity: 65.3
epoch: J2000.0
metallicity: -0.11
right ascension component of proper motion: 0.14
declination component of proper motion: -4.20

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Encyclopedic overview

NGC 1817 is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. It was discovered by English astronomer William Herschel in February 1784. With an apparent magnitude of 7.7 and spanning 9.3 arc minutes across the sky, it is separated from the NGC 1807 cluster by just 26 arc minutes. Indeed, the two may actually be parts of a single extended cluster.

The NGC 1817 cluster is around the same age as the Hyades, or perhaps a little younger at 0.8−1.2 billion years. The turnoff point for this cluster—where stars above a certain mass are evolving through the red giant stage—is twice the mass of the Sun. The cluster is situated in the opposite side of the sky from the Galactic Center at a separation of 32 kly (9.9 kpc) from the core, and is around 1.3 kly (0.4 kpc) away from the Galactic plane.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q1045478” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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