Key facts
- Right ascension
- 6 31 54
- Declination
- +4 ° 56 ′
- Distance
- 5.2 kly
- Apparent dimensions v
- 24 ′
- Radius
- 18 ly
- Other designations
- Caldwell 50, Satellite Cluster, NGC 2239, Cr 99
- Constellation
- Monoceros
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 1445
- Image
- Ngc2244c.jpg
Show 9 more facts
- catalog code
- [KPS2012] MWSC 0896
- Commons category
- NGC 2244
- apparent magnitude
- 4.8
- time of discovery or invention
- 1690-02-17
- right ascension
- 97.9792
- declination
- 4.9417
- radial velocity
- 26.5
- right ascension component of proper motion
- -1.45
- declination component of proper motion
- 0.54
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
An infrared Spitzer Space Telescope (SIRT) image of NGC 2244.Credit: SIRT/NASA NGC 2244 (also known as Caldwell 50 or the Satellite Cluster) is an open cluster in the Rosette Nebula, which is located in the constellation Monoceros. This cluster has several O-type stars, super hot stars that generate large amounts of radiation and stellar wind.
The age of this cluster has been estimated to be less than 5 million years. The brightest star in the direction of the cluster is 12 Monocerotis, a foreground K-class giant. The two brightest members of the cluster are HD 46223 of spectral class O4V, 400,000 times brighter than the Sun, and approximately 50 times more massive, and HD 46150, whose spectral type is O5V, has a luminosity 450,000 time larger than that of our star, and is up to 60 times more massive, but it may actually be a double star. These stars do not seem to pulsate, which is in agreement with stellar modeling of stars with similar global parameters.