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
M4
Globular cluster
—
7175 ly
5.40 V
Scorpius
M41
Open cluster
—
2349 ly
4.50 V
Canis Major
M46
Open cluster
—
5161 ly
6.10 V
Puppis
M47
Open cluster
—
1554 ly
4.40 V
Puppis
M48
Open cluster
—
2475 ly
5.80 V
Hydra
M5
Globular cluster
—
23 809 ly
5.95 V
Serpens
M50
Open cluster
—
3178 ly
5.90 V
Monoceros
M52
Open cluster
—
5219 ly
6.90 V
Cassiopeia
M53
Globular cluster
—
60 013 ly
7.79 V
Coma Berenices
M54
Globular cluster
—
85 453 ly
7.70 V
Sagittarius
M55
Globular cluster
—
17 286 ly
6.49 V
Sagittarius
M56
Globular cluster
—
32 289 ly
8.40 V
Lyra
M62
Globular cluster
—
21 852 ly
7.39 V
Ophiuchus
M67
Open cluster
—
2802 ly
6.90 V
Cancer
M68
Globular cluster
—
32 942 ly
7.96 V
Hydra
M69
Globular cluster
—
26 745 ly
8.31 V
Sagittarius
M70
Globular cluster
—
28 376 ly
9.06 V
Sagittarius
M71
Globular cluster
—
12 394 ly
6.10 V
Sagitta
M72
Globular cluster
—
54 794 ly
8.96 V
Aquarius
M75
Globular cluster
—
60 013 ly
8.26 V
Sagittarius
M79
Globular cluster
—
41 096 ly
8.16 V
Lepus
M80
Globular cluster
—
28 376 ly
7.30 V
Scorpius
M9
Globular cluster
—
27 071 ly
8.42 V
Ophiuchus
M92
Globular cluster
—
26 419 ly
6.52 V
Hercules
M93
Open cluster
—
3271 ly
6.20 V
Puppis
Mel071
Open cluster
—
—
7.10 V
Puppis
Mel072
Open cluster
—
—
10.10 V
Monoceros
Mel101
Open cluster
—
—
8.00 V
Carina
Mel105
Open cluster
—
—
8.50 V
Carina
MWSC3156
Globular cluster
—
—
11.54 V
Sagittarius
MWSC3171
Globular cluster
—
—
7.54 V
Aquila
MWSC3561
Globular cluster
—
—
11.89 V
Capricornus
NGC 1027
Open cluster
—
3581 ly
6.70 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 103
Open cluster
—
10 295 ly
9.80 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 110
Open cluster
—
—
—
Cassiopeia
NGC 1193
Open cluster
—
17 318 ly
12.60 V
Perseus
NGC 121
Globular cluster
—
—
11.24 V
Tucana
NGC 1220
Open cluster
—
10 004 ly
11.80 V
Perseus
NGC 1245
Open cluster
—
10 266 ly
8.40 V
Perseus
NGC 1252
Open cluster
—
—
—
Horologium
NGC 1261
Globular cluster
—
52 185 ly
8.63 V
Horologium
NGC 129
Open cluster
—
6041 ly
6.50 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 133
Open cluster
—
—
9.40 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 1342
Open cluster
—
2130 ly
6.70 V
Perseus
NGC 1348
Open cluster
—
7536 ly
—
Perseus
NGC 136
Open cluster
—
15 549 ly
—
Cassiopeia
NGC 1444
Open cluster
—
3787 ly
6.60 V
Perseus
NGC 146
Open cluster
—
9698 ly
9.10 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 1466
Globular cluster
—
—
11.59 V
Hydrus
NGC 1496
Open cluster
—
5086 ly
9.60 V
Perseus
NGC 1498
Open cluster
—
—
—
Eridanus
NGC 1502
Open cluster
—
3452 ly
6.90 V
Camelopardalis
NGC 1513
Open cluster
—
4795 ly
8.40 V
Perseus
NGC 152
Open cluster
—
—
12.26 V
Tucana
NGC 1520
Open cluster
—
—
—
Mensa
NGC 1528
Open cluster
—
3340 ly
6.40 V
Perseus
NGC 1545
Open cluster
—
2337 ly
6.20 V
Perseus
NGC 1548
Open cluster
—
—
—
Perseus
NGC 1557
Open cluster
—
—
—
Hydrus
NGC 1582
Open cluster
—
3189 ly
7.00 V
Perseus
NGC 1605
Open cluster
—
10 056 ly
10.70 V
Perseus
NGC 1629
Globular cluster
—
—
12.68 V
Hydrus
NGC 1641
Open cluster
—
—
—
Reticulum
NGC 1644
Globular cluster
—
—
12.89 V
Dorado
NGC 1647
Open cluster
—
1914 ly
6.40 V
Taurus
NGC 1649
Globular cluster
—
—
13.13 V
Dorado
NGC 1651
Globular cluster
—
—
12.28 V
Mensa
NGC 1662
Open cluster
—
1343 ly
6.40 V
Orion
NGC 1663
Open cluster
—
—
14.54 V
Orion
NGC 1664
Open cluster
—
4273 ly
7.60 V
Auriga
NGC 1673
Open cluster
—
—
14.07 V
Mensa
NGC 1676
Open cluster
—
—
—
Dorado
NGC 1693
Globular cluster
—
—
12.89 V
Dorado
NGC 1695
Globular cluster
—
—
12.16 V
Dorado
NGC 1696
Open cluster
—
—
13.95 V
Dorado
NGC 1697
Globular cluster
—
—
12.62 V
Dorado
NGC 1698
Globular cluster
—
—
12.07 V
Dorado
NGC 1702
Open cluster
—
—
12.50 V
Mensa
NGC 1704
Open cluster
—
—
11.50 V
Dorado
NGC 1708
Open cluster
—
3082 ly
—
Camelopardalis
NGC 1711
Globular cluster
—
—
11.10 V
Mensa
NGC 1712
Stellar association
—
—
—
Dorado
NGC 1718
Open cluster
—
—
12.25 V
Dorado
NGC 1724
Open cluster
—
11 967 ly
—
Auriga
NGC 1731
Stellar association
—
—
—
Dorado
NGC 1732
Open cluster
—
—
12.30 V
Dorado
NGC 1733
Open cluster
—
—
13.31 V
Dorado
NGC 1734
Open cluster
—
—
13.10 V
Dorado
NGC 1735
Open cluster
—
—
10.76 V
Dorado
NGC 1746
Open cluster
—
—
6.10 V
Taurus
NGC 1747
Open cluster
—
—
9.37 V
Dorado
NGC 1749
Open cluster
—
—
13.56 V
Dorado
NGC 1750
Open cluster
—
2347 ly
—
Taurus
NGC 1751
Globular cluster
—
—
11.73 V
Mensa
NGC 1754
Globular cluster
—
—
11.57 V
Mensa
NGC 1755
Globular cluster
—
—
9.85 V
Dorado
NGC 1756
Globular cluster
—
—
12.24 V
Dorado
NGC 1758
Open cluster
—
2882 ly
—
Taurus
NGC 176
Open cluster
—
—
13.01 V
Tucana
NGC 1761
Stellar association
—
—
9.94 V
Dorado