Star clusters
935 CATALOGUEDStars born together and still travelling together — loose open groups, or ancient globes of hundreds of thousands.
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 ENTRIESNAME
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
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
NGC 6791
Open cluster
—
14 777 ly
9.50 V
Lyra
NGC 6775
Open cluster
—
—
—
Aquila
NGC 6774
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6773
Open cluster
—
—
—
Aquila
NGC 6760
Globular cluster
—
23 809 ly
9.78 V
Aquila
NGC 6756
Open cluster
—
10 504 ly
10.60 V
Aquila
NGC 6755
Open cluster
—
8060 ly
7.50 V
Aquila
NGC 6752
Globular cluster
—
12 720 ly
6.28 V
Pavo
NGC 6749
Globular cluster
—
25 114 ly
12.40 V
Aquila
NGC 6743
Open cluster
—
—
8.20 B
Lyra
NGC 6738
Stellar association
—
—
8.30 V
Aquila
NGC 6737
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6735
Open cluster
—
7332 ly
—
Aquila
NGC 6728
Open cluster
—
5776 ly
—
Scutum
NGC 6724
Open cluster
—
—
—
Aquila
NGC 6723
Globular cluster
—
28 049 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6717
Globular cluster
—
23 157 ly
10.35 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6716
Open cluster
—
2274 ly
7.50 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6714
Stellar association
—
—
—
Draco
NGC 6712
Globular cluster
—
21 852 ly
8.69 V
Scutum
NGC 6709
Open cluster
—
3472 ly
6.70 V
Aquila
NGC 6704
Open cluster
—
7039 ly
9.20 V
Scutum
NGC 6698
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6683
Open cluster
—
—
9.40 V
Scutum
NGC 6682
Open cluster
—
—
—
Scutum
NGC 6664
Open cluster
—
6562 ly
7.80 V
Scutum
NGC 6659
Open cluster
—
—
—
Hercules
NGC 6652
Globular cluster
—
30 659 ly
9.75 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6649
Open cluster
—
6578 ly
8.90 V
Scutum
NGC 6647
Open cluster
—
—
8.00 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6645
Open cluster
—
5706 ly
8.50 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6642
Globular cluster
—
24 788 ly
10.24 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6639
Open cluster
—
—
—
Scutum
NGC 6638
Globular cluster
—
26 745 ly
9.68 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6633
Open cluster
—
1277 ly
4.60 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6631
Open cluster
—
9106 ly
11.70 V
Scutum
NGC 663
Open cluster
—
9346 ly
7.10 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6625
Open cluster
—
—
9.00 V
Scutum
NGC 6624
Globular cluster
—
25 766 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6605
Open cluster
—
—
6.00 V
Serpens
NGC 6604
Open cluster
—
—
6.50 V
Serpens
NGC 6603
Open cluster
—
9235 ly
11.10 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6596
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 659
Open cluster
—
10 338 ly
7.90 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6584
Globular cluster
—
42 400 ly
8.17 V
Telescopium
NGC 6583
Open cluster
—
7378 ly
10.00 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6573
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 657
Open cluster
—
—
—
Cassiopeia
NGC 6569
Globular cluster
—
27 723 ly
9.47 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6568
Open cluster
—
3380 ly
8.60 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6561
Open cluster
—
4769 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6558
Globular cluster
—
20 874 ly
11.29 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6556
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6554
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6553
Globular cluster
—
15 329 ly
9.08 B
Sagittarius
NGC 6546
Open cluster
—
—
8.00 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6544
Globular cluster
—
8154 ly
9.90 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6541
Globular cluster
—
24 136 ly
7.32 V
Corona Australis
NGC 6540
Globular cluster
—
11 415 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 654
Open cluster
—
9536 ly
6.50 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6539
Globular cluster
—
25 766 ly
—
Serpens
NGC 6535
Globular cluster
—
22 179 ly
9.85 V
Serpens
NGC 6529
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6528
Globular cluster
—
24 136 ly
10.65 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6525
Open cluster
—
—
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 6522
Globular cluster
—
22 831 ly
9.48 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6520
Open cluster
—
5570 ly
7.60 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6517
Globular cluster
—
34 246 ly
11.08 B
Ophiuchus
NGC 6507
Open cluster
—
—
9.60 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6506
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6496
Globular cluster
—
37 834 ly
9.96 B
Scorpius
NGC 6480
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6476
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6469
Open cluster
—
5294 ly
8.20 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6455
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6453
Globular cluster
—
35 551 ly
10.49 B
Scorpius
NGC 6451
Open cluster
—
9791 ly
8.20 V
Scorpius
NGC 6444
Open cluster
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6441
Globular cluster
—
31 637 ly
8.00 V
Scorpius
NGC 6440
Globular cluster
—
26 093 ly
10.10 V
Sagittarius
NGC 643A
Open cluster
—
—
—
Hydrus
NGC 6437
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 643
Open cluster
—
—
—
Hydrus
NGC 6426
Globular cluster
—
64 905 ly
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 6425
Open cluster
—
3211 ly
7.20 V
Scorpius
NGC 6421
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6416
Open cluster
—
3428 ly
—
Scorpius
NGC 6415
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6404
Open cluster
—
8492 ly
10.60 V
Scorpius
NGC 6401
Globular cluster
—
24 462 ly
10.71 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6400
Open cluster
—
3947 ly
8.80 V
Scorpius
NGC 6397
Globular cluster
—
7175 ly
5.17 V
Ara
NGC 6396
Open cluster
—
8547 ly
8.50 V
Scorpius
NGC 6388
Globular cluster
—
37 508 ly
7.40 B
Scorpius
NGC 6380
Globular cluster
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6374
Open cluster
—
3617 ly
5.50 V
Scorpius
NGC 637
Open cluster
—
8897 ly
8.20 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6366
Globular cluster
—
11 742 ly
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 6362
Globular cluster
—
24 462 ly
8.86 V
Ara
NGC 6360
Stellar association
—
—
—
Ophiuchus