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 2420
Open cluster
—
8326 ly
8.30 V
Gemini
NGC 242
Open cluster
—
—
12.10 B
Tucana
NGC 2419
Globular cluster
—
268 427 ly
10.05 V
Lynx
NGC 2414
Open cluster
—
17 121 ly
7.90 V
Puppis
NGC 2413
Open cluster
—
—
—
Puppis
NGC 241
Open cluster
—
—
—
Tucana
NGC 2409
Open cluster
—
—
7.30 V
Puppis
NGC 2408
Open cluster
—
—
—
Camelopardalis
NGC 2401
Open cluster
—
14 026 ly
12.60 V
Puppis
NGC 2396
Open cluster
—
4781 ly
7.40 V
Puppis
NGC 2395
Open cluster
—
—
8.00 V
Gemini
NGC 2394
Open cluster
—
—
—
Canis Minor
NGC 2384
Open cluster
—
—
7.40 V
Canis Major
NGC 2383
Open cluster
—
10 403 ly
8.40 V
Canis Major
NGC 2374
Open cluster
—
4133 ly
8.00 V
Canis Major
NGC 2368
Open cluster
—
—
11.80 V
Monoceros
NGC 2367
Open cluster
—
7692 ly
7.90 V
Canis Major
NGC 2364
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2362
Open cluster
—
4229 ly
4.10 V
Canis Major
NGC 2358
Open cluster
—
2991 ly
—
Canis Major
NGC 2355
Open cluster
—
6203 ly
9.70 V
Gemini
NGC 2354
Open cluster
—
4170 ly
6.50 V
Canis Major
NGC 2353
Open cluster
—
3860 ly
7.10 V
Monoceros
NGC 2352
Open cluster
—
—
—
Canis Major
NGC 2351
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2349
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2348
Open cluster
—
—
—
Volans
NGC 2345
Open cluster
—
8653 ly
7.70 V
Canis Major
NGC 2343
Open cluster
—
3517 ly
6.70 V
Monoceros
NGC 2338
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2335
Open cluster
—
5316 ly
7.20 V
Monoceros
NGC 2331
Open cluster
—
—
8.50 V
Gemini
NGC 2324
Open cluster
—
14 813 ly
8.40 V
Monoceros
NGC 2319
Open cluster
—
—
11.85 V
Monoceros
NGC 2318
Open cluster
—
4380 ly
—
Canis Major
NGC 2312
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2311
Open cluster
—
6642 ly
9.60 V
Monoceros
NGC 231
Open cluster
—
—
12.87 V
Tucana
NGC 2309
Open cluster
—
7733 ly
10.50 V
Monoceros
NGC 2306
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2304
Open cluster
—
13 182 ly
10.00 V
Gemini
NGC 2299
Open cluster
—
3934 ly
8.90 V
Monoceros
NGC 2298
Globular cluster
—
34 573 ly
8.89 V
Puppis
NGC 2286
Open cluster
—
7487 ly
7.50 V
Monoceros
NGC 2281
Open cluster
—
1694 ly
5.40 V
Auriga
NGC 2270
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2269
Open cluster
—
6986 ly
10.00 V
Monoceros
NGC 2266
Open cluster
—
10 808 ly
9.50 V
Gemini
NGC 2265
Open cluster
—
—
—
Gemini
NGC 2262
Open cluster
—
12 947 ly
11.30 B
Monoceros
NGC 2260
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2259
Open cluster
—
9193 ly
10.80 V
Monoceros
NGC 2257
Globular cluster
—
—
12.62 V
Dorado
NGC 2254
Open cluster
—
8303 ly
9.10 V
Monoceros
NGC 2252
Open cluster
—
—
7.70 V
Monoceros
NGC 2251
Open cluster
—
4745 ly
7.30 V
Monoceros
NGC 2250
Open cluster
—
—
8.90 V
Monoceros
NGC 225
Open cluster
—
2232 ly
7.00 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 2249
Globular cluster
—
—
12.23 V
Dorado
NGC 2243
Open cluster
—
13 594 ly
9.40 V
Canis Major
NGC 2241
Open cluster
—
—
13.25 V
Dorado
NGC 2240
Open cluster
—
—
—
Auriga
NGC 2236
Open cluster
—
8610 ly
8.50 V
Monoceros
NGC 2234
Open cluster
—
—
—
Gemini
NGC 2232
Open cluster
—
1053 ly
3.90 V
Monoceros
NGC 2231
Globular cluster
—
—
13.20 V
Dorado
NGC 2226
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2225
Open cluster
—
10 239 ly
—
Monoceros
NGC 222
Open cluster
—
—
12.64 V
Tucana
NGC 2219
Open cluster
—
—
—
Monoceros
NGC 2215
Open cluster
—
3107 ly
8.45 V
Monoceros
NGC 2214
Open cluster
—
—
10.93 V
Dorado
NGC 2213
Open cluster
—
—
12.38 V
Mensa
NGC 2210
Globular cluster
—
—
10.94 V
Dorado
NGC 2209
Globular cluster
—
—
13.15 V
Mensa
NGC 2204
Open cluster
—
13 712 ly
8.60 V
Canis Major
NGC 2203
Globular cluster
—
—
11.29 V
Mensa
NGC 2202
Open cluster
—
—
—
Orion
NGC 220
Open cluster
—
—
14.39 V
Tucana
NGC 2197
Globular cluster
—
—
13.45 V
Dorado
NGC 2194
Open cluster
—
11 170 ly
8.50 V
Orion
NGC 2193
Globular cluster
—
—
13.42 V
Dorado
NGC 2192
Open cluster
—
12 926 ly
10.90 V
Auriga
NGC 2190
Globular cluster
—
—
12.94 V
Mensa
NGC 2186
Open cluster
—
7374 ly
8.70 V
Orion
NGC 2184
Open cluster
—
1876 ly
—
Orion
NGC 2181
Globular cluster
—
—
13.64 V
Dorado
NGC 2180
Open cluster
—
—
9.00 B
Orion
NGC 2177
Open cluster
—
—
12.83 V
Dorado
NGC 2176
Open cluster
—
—
—
Dorado
NGC 2173
Globular cluster
—
—
11.88 V
Mensa
NGC 2172
Open cluster
—
—
11.75 V
Dorado
NGC 2169
Open cluster
—
3227 ly
5.90 V
Orion
NGC 2166
Open cluster
—
—
12.86 V
Dorado
NGC 2165
Open cluster
—
—
—
Auriga
NGC 2164
Globular cluster
—
—
10.34 V
Dorado
NGC 2162
Globular cluster
—
—
12.70 V
Dorado
NGC 2161
Globular cluster
—
—
12.95 V
Mensa
NGC 2160
Open cluster
—
—
12.16 V
Dorado
NGC 2159
Globular cluster
—
—
11.38 V
Dorado