Star clusters

935 CATALOGUED

Stars born together and still travelling together — loose open groups, or ancient globes of hundreds of thousands.

RANKED LISTS
Brightest▸
Pleiades — apparent magnitude 1.20 (V)
TOP 50
PRIMER — 60 SECONDS

Open versus globular

Open clusters are young, sparse, and in the galactic disk; they disperse within a few hundred million years. Globulars are dense, spherical, and nearly as old as the galaxy.

Why they matter

Every star in a cluster is the same age and distance, which makes clusters the calibration bench for almost everything known about stellar evolution.

[

THE FAMOUS ONES

] 5 ENTRIES
NAME
CLASS
MASS
DISTANCE
MAG
CONSTELLATION
Pleiades★
Open cluster
—
444.0 ly
1.20 V
Taurus
h Persei Cluster★
Open cluster
—
7620 ly
3.70 V
Perseus
47 Tuc Cluster★
Globular cluster
—
15 000 ly
4.09 V
Tucana
Omega Centauri★
Globular cluster
—
17 700 ly
5.33 V
Centaurus
Hercules Globular Cluster★
Globular cluster
—
22 200 ly
5.80 V
Hercules
ALL CLASSESOPEN CLUSTER · 663GLOBULAR CLUSTER · 208STELLAR ASSOCIATION · 64
BY CONSTELLATION · 70 REGIONS
DORADO · 194MENSA · 68SAGITTARIUS · 49CYGNUS · 43SCORPIUS · 42TUCANA · 40PUPPIS · 37MONOCEROS · 35CASSIOPEIA · 33CENTAURUS · 27OPHIUCHUS · 26VELA · 24AURIGA · 19PERSEUS · 19AQUILA · 17CARINA · 17CEPHEUS · 15CANIS MAJOR · 14VULPECULA · 14GEMINI · 13SCUTUM · 13NORMA · 12ORION · 11TAURUS · 11ARA · 10CRUX · 9HYDRUS · 8LUPUS · 8LACERTA · 7SERPENS · 7ANDROMEDA · 5COMA BERENICES · 5TRIANGULUM · 5CAMELOPARDALIS · 4CANCER · 4CIRCINUS · 4COLUMBA · 4HERCULES · 4MUSCA · 4PEGASUS · 4AQUARIUS · 3DELPHINUS · 3HYDRA · 3LEPUS · 3LYRA · 3PYXIS · 3SAGITTA · 3APUS · 2CANIS MINOR · 2CAPRICORNUS · 2HOROLOGIUM · 2LYNX · 2PICTOR · 2BOÖTES · 1CANES VENATICI · 1CHAMAELEON · 1CORONA AUSTRALIS · 1DRACO · 1ERIDANUS · 1FORNAX · 1LIBRA · 1PAVO · 1RETICULUM · 1SCULPTOR · 1TELESCOPIUM · 1TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE · 1URSA MAJOR · 1URSA MINOR · 1VIRGO · 1VOLANS · 1
NAME▲
CLASS
MASS
DISTANCE
MAG
CONSTELLATION
47 Tuc Cluster★
Globular cluster
—
15 000 ly
4.09 V
Tucana
Amas de l'Ecu de Sobieski
Open cluster
—
7159 ly
5.80 V
Scutum
Beehive
Open cluster
—
605.0 ly
3.10 V
Cancer
Brocchi's Cluster
Stellar association
—
—
3.60 V
Vulpecula
Butterfly Cluster
Open cluster
—
1482 ly
4.20 V
Scorpius
Caroline's Cluster
Open cluster
—
3504 ly
7.20 V
Canis Major
Coalsack Cluster
Open cluster
—
4734 ly
6.90 V
Crux
Coma Star Cluster
Open cluster
—
—
—
Coma Berenices
Double Cluster
Stellar association
—
—
—
Perseus
ESO390-006
Globular cluster
—
—
12.00 V
Scorpius
Fornax Dwarf Cluster 3
Globular cluster
—
—
13.59 B
Fornax
Foxhead Cluster
Open cluster
—
8478 ly
7.30 V
Cygnus
Great Bird Cluster
Open cluster
—
2803 ly
6.00 V
Monoceros
H05
Open cluster
—
—
7.10 V
Crux
H13
Open cluster
—
—
—
Ara
H20
Open cluster
—
—
7.70 V
Sagitta
H21
Open cluster
—
—
9.00 V
Cassiopeia
Hercules Globular Cluster★
Globular cluster
—
22 200 ly
5.80 V
Hercules
Herschel's Jewel Box
Open cluster
—
6648 ly
—
Crux
h Persei Cluster★
Open cluster
—
7620 ly
3.70 V
Perseus
Hyades
Open cluster
—
—
—
Taurus
IC 1023
Open cluster
—
—
—
Centaurus
IC 1203
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
IC 1207
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
IC 1257
Globular cluster
—
79 908 ly
—
Ophiuchus
IC 1276
Globular cluster
—
30 333 ly
—
Serpens
IC 1290
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
IC 1299
Open cluster
—
—
14.00 B
Vulpecula
IC 1304
Stellar association
—
—
—
Cygnus
IC 1306
Stellar association
—
—
—
Cygnus
IC 1307
Stellar association
—
—
—
Vulpecula
IC 1311
Open cluster
—
21 244 ly
13.10 V
Cygnus
IC 1314
Stellar association
—
—
—
Vulpecula
IC 136
Stellar association
—
—
11.04 B
Triangulum
IC 1363
Open cluster
—
—
—
Cygnus
IC 1369
Open cluster
—
11 208 ly
—
Cygnus
IC 137
Stellar association
—
—
—
Triangulum
IC 139
Stellar association
—
—
13.10 B
Triangulum
IC 140
Stellar association
—
—
—
Triangulum
IC 1400
Stellar association
—
—
—
Cygnus
IC 1402
Stellar association
—
—
—
Cygnus
IC 1434
Open cluster
—
10 611 ly
—
Lacerta
IC 1442
Open cluster
—
—
9.10 V
Lacerta
IC 1611
Open cluster
—
—
11.96 V
Tucana
IC 1612
Open cluster
—
—
12.31 V
Tucana
IC 1624
Open cluster
—
—
12.42 V
Tucana
IC 1626
Open cluster
—
—
13.82 V
Tucana
IC 1641
Open cluster
—
—
14.99 V
Tucana
IC 1655
Open cluster
—
—
14.00 V
Tucana
IC 166
Open cluster
—
16 011 ly
11.70 V
Cassiopeia
IC 1660
Open cluster
—
—
13.51 V
Tucana
IC 1662
Open cluster
—
—
14.03 V
Tucana
IC 1708
Open cluster
—
—
14.30 B
Hydrus
IC 2134
Globular cluster
—
—
13.94 V
Mensa
IC 2139
Stellar association
—
—
—
Lepus
IC 2140
Globular cluster
—
—
13.48 V
Mensa
IC 2141
Stellar association
—
—
—
Pictor
IC 2146
Globular cluster
—
—
12.41 V
Mensa
IC 2148
Globular cluster
—
—
14.23 V
Mensa
IC 2156
Open cluster
—
—
—
Gemini
IC 2157
Open cluster
—
6839 ly
8.40 V
Gemini
IC 2161
Globular cluster
—
—
14.24 V
Mensa
IC 2395
Open cluster
—
2317 ly
4.60 V
Vela
IC 2488
Open cluster
—
4367 ly
7.40 V
Vela
IC 2581
Open cluster
—
8549 ly
4.30 V
Carina
IC 2714
Open cluster
—
4364 ly
8.20 V
Carina
IC 2884
Stellar association
—
—
—
Chamaeleon
IC 3564
Stellar association
—
—
—
Coma Berenices
IC 361
Open cluster
—
12 749 ly
11.70 V
Camelopardalis
IC 4291
Open cluster
—
—
9.70 V
Centaurus
IC 4499
Globular cluster
—
60 013 ly
8.56 V
Apus
IC 4651
Open cluster
—
3005 ly
6.90 V
Ara
IC 4665
Open cluster
—
1126 ly
4.20 V
Ophiuchus
IC 4756
Open cluster
—
1537 ly
4.60 V
Serpens
IC 4768
Open cluster
—
—
—
Scutum
IC 4996
Open cluster
—
6316 ly
7.30 V
Cygnus
M10
Globular cluster
—
14 025 ly
4.98 V
Ophiuchus
M103
Open cluster
—
8113 ly
7.40 V
Cassiopeia
M107
Globular cluster
—
20 548 ly
8.85 V
Ophiuchus
M12
Globular cluster
—
15 329 ly
6.07 V
Ophiuchus
M14
Globular cluster
—
28 376 ly
5.73 V
Ophiuchus
M15
Globular cluster
—
33 268 ly
6.30 V
Pegasus
M18
Open cluster
—
4874 ly
6.90 V
Sagittarius
M19
Globular cluster
—
27 723 ly
5.57 V
Ophiuchus
M2
Globular cluster
—
37 182 ly
6.25 V
Aquarius
M21
Open cluster
—
3944 ly
5.90 V
Sagittarius
M22
Globular cluster
—
10 437 ly
6.17 V
Sagittarius
M23
Open cluster
—
2359 ly
5.50 V
Sagittarius
M25
Open cluster
—
2114 ly
4.60 V
Sagittarius
M26
Open cluster
—
5900 ly
8.87 V
Scutum
M28
Globular cluster
—
18 591 ly
6.90 V
Sagittarius
M29
Open cluster
—
5606 ly
6.60 V
Cygnus
M3
Globular cluster
—
32 616 ly
6.39 V
Canes Venatici
M30
Globular cluster
—
25 766 ly
7.10 V
Capricornus
M34
Open cluster
—
1649 ly
5.20 V
Perseus
M35
Open cluster
—
2813 ly
5.10 V
Gemini
M36
Open cluster
—
3773 ly
6.00 V
Auriga
M37
Open cluster
—
4690 ly
5.60 V
Auriga
M38
Open cluster
—
3612 ly
6.40 V
Auriga
M39
Open cluster
—
969.0 ly
4.60 V
Cygnus