Star clusters

935 CATALOGUED

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

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Pleiades — apparent magnitude 1.20 (V)
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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
NGC 3105
Open cluster
—
24 592 ly
9.70 V
Vela
NGC 3114
Open cluster
—
3318 ly
4.20 V
Carina
NGC 3201
Globular cluster
—
16 634 ly
8.24 V
Vela
NGC 3228
Open cluster
—
1579 ly
6.00 V
Vela
NGC 3231
Open cluster
—
—
—
Ursa Major
NGC 3255
Open cluster
—
21 865 ly
11.00 V
Carina
NGC 3293
Open cluster
—
8059 ly
4.70 V
Carina
NGC 330
Open cluster
—
—
9.55 V
Tucana
NGC 3330
Open cluster
—
5611 ly
7.40 V
Vela
NGC 339
Globular cluster
—
—
12.21 V
Tucana
NGC 3446
Open cluster
—
—
—
Vela
NGC 346
Open cluster
—
—
—
Tucana
NGC 3496
Open cluster
—
7760 ly
8.20 V
Carina
NGC 3519
Open cluster
—
—
7.70 V
Carina
NGC 3572
Open cluster
—
8057 ly
6.60 V
Carina
NGC 3590
Open cluster
—
8363 ly
8.20 V
Carina
NGC 361
Open cluster
—
—
11.77 V
Tucana
NGC 362
Globular cluster
—
27 071 ly
6.58 V
Tucana
NGC 366
Open cluster
—
8487 ly
—
Cassiopeia
NGC 3680
Open cluster
—
3390 ly
7.60 V
Centaurus
NGC 371
Open cluster
—
—
—
Tucana
NGC 376
Open cluster
—
—
10.90 V
Tucana
NGC 381
Open cluster
—
3723 ly
9.30 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 3909
Open cluster
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 395
Open cluster
—
—
—
Tucana
NGC 3960
Open cluster
—
7610 ly
8.30 V
Centaurus
NGC 4052
Open cluster
—
9262 ly
8.80 V
Crux
NGC 4103
Open cluster
—
6496 ly
7.40 V
Crux
NGC 411
Open cluster
—
—
12.10 V
Tucana
NGC 4147
Globular cluster
—
61 317 ly
10.74 V
Coma Berenices
NGC 416
Globular cluster
—
—
11.76 V
Tucana
NGC 4184
Open cluster
—
—
—
Crux
NGC 419
Globular cluster
—
—
10.50 V
Tucana
NGC 422
Open cluster
—
—
13.26 V
Tucana
NGC 4230
Open cluster
—
—
9.40 V
Centaurus
NGC 433
Open cluster
—
6634 ly
—
Cassiopeia
NGC 4337
Open cluster
—
8452 ly
8.90 V
Crux
NGC 4349
Open cluster
—
6287 ly
7.40 V
Crux
NGC 436
Open cluster
—
11 202 ly
8.80 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 4372
Globular cluster
—
15 982 ly
9.85 V
Musca
NGC 4439
Open cluster
—
6480 ly
8.40 V
Crux
NGC 4463
Open cluster
—
5911 ly
7.20 V
Musca
NGC 456
Open cluster
—
—
—
Tucana
NGC 458
Open cluster
—
—
11.66 V
Tucana
NGC 465
Open cluster
—
—
—
Tucana
NGC 4815
Open cluster
—
11 261 ly
8.60 V
Musca
NGC 4833
Globular cluster
—
19 243 ly
7.79 V
Musca
NGC 4852
Open cluster
—
4175 ly
8.90 V
Centaurus
NGC 4937
Stellar association
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 5043
Open cluster
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 5045
Stellar association
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 5053
Globular cluster
—
52 837 ly
9.96 V
Coma Berenices
NGC 5120
Open cluster
—
—
10.80 V
Centaurus
NGC 5138
Open cluster
—
6052 ly
5.33 V
Centaurus
NGC 5155
Stellar association
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 5168
Open cluster
—
10 559 ly
9.10 V
Centaurus
NGC 5269
Open cluster
—
6669 ly
—
Centaurus
NGC 5281
Open cluster
—
5163 ly
5.90 V
Centaurus
NGC 5284
Stellar association
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 5286
Globular cluster
—
34 899 ly
8.31 V
Centaurus
NGC 5288
Open cluster
—
8721 ly
11.80 V
Circinus
NGC 5299
Open cluster
—
—
—
Centaurus
NGC 5316
Open cluster
—
4701 ly
6.00 V
Centaurus
NGC 5359
Open cluster
—
—
—
Circinus
NGC 5381
Open cluster
—
7989 ly
—
Centaurus
NGC 5385
Open cluster
—
—
—
Ursa Minor
NGC 5460
Open cluster
—
2383 ly
5.60 V
Centaurus
NGC 5466
Globular cluster
—
54 142 ly
9.70 V
Boötes
NGC 559
Open cluster
—
9227 ly
9.50 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 5593
Open cluster
—
3341 ly
—
Lupus
NGC 5606
Open cluster
—
8089 ly
7.70 V
Centaurus
NGC 5617
Open cluster
—
7603 ly
6.30 V
Centaurus
NGC 5634
Globular cluster
—
82 518 ly
10.05 V
Virgo
NGC 5662
Open cluster
—
2476 ly
5.50 V
Centaurus
NGC 5694
Globular cluster
—
110 567 ly
10.89 V
Hydra
NGC 5715
Open cluster
—
7025 ly
9.80 V
Circinus
NGC 5749
Open cluster
—
3548 ly
8.80 V
Lupus
NGC 5764
Open cluster
—
6504 ly
12.60 V
Lupus
NGC 5800
Open cluster
—
—
—
Lupus
NGC 5822
Open cluster
—
2682 ly
6.50 V
Lupus
NGC 5823
Open cluster
—
5931 ly
7.90 V
Circinus
NGC 5824
Globular cluster
—
102 087 ly
9.56 V
Lupus
NGC 5897
Globular cluster
—
41 422 ly
8.52 V
Libra
NGC 592
Stellar association
—
—
—
Triangulum
NGC 5925
Open cluster
—
4609 ly
8.40 V
Norma
NGC 5927
Globular cluster
—
24 136 ly
8.86 V
Lupus
NGC 5946
Globular cluster
—
40 117 ly
10.72 V
Norma
NGC 5986
Globular cluster
—
33 594 ly
6.92 V
Lupus
NGC 5998
Open cluster
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 5999
Open cluster
—
9175 ly
9.00 V
Norma
NGC 6005
Open cluster
—
8347 ly
10.70 V
Norma
NGC 602
Open cluster
—
—
13.02 V
Hydrus
NGC 6025
Open cluster
—
2513 ly
5.10 V
Triangulum Australe
NGC 6031
Open cluster
—
5797 ly
8.50 V
Norma
NGC 6067
Open cluster
—
6916 ly
5.60 V
Norma
NGC 609
Open cluster
—
18 858 ly
11.00 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6101
Globular cluster
—
49 250 ly
10.08 V
Apus
NGC 6115
Open cluster
—
—
9.80 V
Norma
NGC 6124
Open cluster
—
2056 ly
5.80 V
Scorpius
NGC 6134
Open cluster
—
3729 ly
7.20 V
Norma