Q921254
Sign in to saveAlso known as New General Catalogue 2281, Broken Heart Cluster
open cluster in the constellation Auriga
Key facts
- Right ascension
- 06 48 17.(0)
- Declination
- +41 ° 04 ′ 4(2) ″
- Distance
- 1,722 +104, −91 ly ( 528 +32, −28 pc )
- Apparent dimensions v
- 25 ′
- Estimated age
- 610 million
- Other designations
- Cr 116, Mel 51, C 0645+411, OCL -446
- Constellation
- Auriga
via Wikipedia infobox
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
NGC 2281, also known as the Broken Heart Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Auriga. It was discovered by English astronomer William Herschel on March 4, 1788, and described as a, "cluster of coarsely scattered pretty [bright] stars, pretty rich". The Trumpler class for NGC 2281 is I3p, indicating a poor (p) but compact (I) grouping with a wide range of brightness (3). It is located at a distance of approximately 1,720 ly from the Sun and is 630–661 million years old.
References
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q921254” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.