Star clusters

935 CATALOGUED

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

RANKED LISTS
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Pleiades — apparent magnitude 1.20 (V)
TOP 50
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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 6139
Globular cluster
—
34 246 ly
9.68 V
Scorpius
NGC 6144
Globular cluster
—
32 942 ly
9.63 V
Scorpius
NGC 6152
Open cluster
—
5238 ly
8.10 V
Norma
NGC 6167
Open cluster
—
4785 ly
6.70 V
Norma
NGC 6169
Open cluster
—
—
6.60 V
Norma
NGC 6178
Open cluster
—
2890 ly
7.20 V
Scorpius
NGC 6192
Open cluster
—
5438 ly
8.50 V
Scorpius
NGC 6193
Open cluster
—
3880 ly
—
Ara
NGC 6200
Open cluster
—
—
7.40 V
Ara
NGC 6204
Open cluster
—
3910 ly
8.20 V
Ara
NGC 6208
Open cluster
—
3798 ly
7.20 V
Ara
NGC 6216
Open cluster
—
8238 ly
10.10 V
Scorpius
NGC 6229
Globular cluster
—
95 564 ly
9.86 V
Hercules
NGC 6231
Open cluster
—
5275 ly
2.60 V
Scorpius
NGC 6235
Globular cluster
—
31 637 ly
7.20 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6242
Open cluster
—
4161 ly
6.40 V
Scorpius
NGC 6249
Open cluster
—
3992 ly
8.20 V
Scorpius
NGC 6253
Open cluster
—
5511 ly
10.20 V
Ara
NGC 6256
Globular cluster
—
30 333 ly
—
Scorpius
NGC 6259
Open cluster
—
7473 ly
8.00 V
Scorpius
NGC 6268
Open cluster
—
4921 ly
9.50 V
Scorpius
NGC 6281
Open cluster
—
1715 ly
5.40 V
Scorpius
NGC 6284
Globular cluster
—
46 640 ly
7.43 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6287
Globular cluster
—
27 397 ly
10.30 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6293
Globular cluster
—
28 702 ly
9.02 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6304
Globular cluster
—
19 569 ly
9.03 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6316
Globular cluster
—
37 508 ly
9.03 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6318
Open cluster
—
7429 ly
11.80 V
Scorpius
NGC 6322
Open cluster
—
4309 ly
6.00 V
Scorpius
NGC 6325
Globular cluster
—
30 659 ly
11.49 B
Ophiuchus
NGC 6335
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6342
Globular cluster
—
29 680 ly
10.01 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6352
Globular cluster
—
18 265 ly
8.87 V
Ara
NGC 6355
Globular cluster
—
23 157 ly
11.05 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6356
Globular cluster
—
47 619 ly
7.42 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6360
Stellar association
—
—
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 6362
Globular cluster
—
24 462 ly
8.86 V
Ara
NGC 6366
Globular cluster
—
11 742 ly
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 637
Open cluster
—
8897 ly
8.20 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6374
Open cluster
—
3617 ly
5.50 V
Scorpius
NGC 6380
Globular cluster
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6388
Globular cluster
—
37 508 ly
7.40 B
Scorpius
NGC 6396
Open cluster
—
8547 ly
8.50 V
Scorpius
NGC 6397
Globular cluster
—
7175 ly
5.17 V
Ara
NGC 6400
Open cluster
—
3947 ly
8.80 V
Scorpius
NGC 6401
Globular cluster
—
24 462 ly
10.71 V
Ophiuchus
NGC 6404
Open cluster
—
8492 ly
10.60 V
Scorpius
NGC 6415
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6416
Open cluster
—
3428 ly
—
Scorpius
NGC 6421
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6425
Open cluster
—
3211 ly
7.20 V
Scorpius
NGC 6426
Globular cluster
—
64 905 ly
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 643
Open cluster
—
—
—
Hydrus
NGC 6437
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 643A
Open cluster
—
—
—
Hydrus
NGC 6440
Globular cluster
—
26 093 ly
10.10 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6441
Globular cluster
—
31 637 ly
8.00 V
Scorpius
NGC 6444
Open cluster
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6451
Open cluster
—
9791 ly
8.20 V
Scorpius
NGC 6453
Globular cluster
—
35 551 ly
10.49 B
Scorpius
NGC 6455
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6469
Open cluster
—
5294 ly
8.20 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6476
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6480
Stellar association
—
—
—
Scorpius
NGC 6496
Globular cluster
—
37 834 ly
9.96 B
Scorpius
NGC 6506
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6507
Open cluster
—
—
9.60 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6517
Globular cluster
—
34 246 ly
11.08 B
Ophiuchus
NGC 6520
Open cluster
—
5570 ly
7.60 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6522
Globular cluster
—
22 831 ly
9.48 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6525
Open cluster
—
—
—
Ophiuchus
NGC 6528
Globular cluster
—
24 136 ly
10.65 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6529
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6535
Globular cluster
—
22 179 ly
9.85 V
Serpens
NGC 6539
Globular cluster
—
25 766 ly
—
Serpens
NGC 654
Open cluster
—
9536 ly
6.50 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6540
Globular cluster
—
11 415 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6541
Globular cluster
—
24 136 ly
7.32 V
Corona Australis
NGC 6544
Globular cluster
—
8154 ly
9.90 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6546
Open cluster
—
—
8.00 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6553
Globular cluster
—
15 329 ly
9.08 B
Sagittarius
NGC 6554
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6556
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6558
Globular cluster
—
20 874 ly
11.29 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6561
Open cluster
—
4769 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6568
Open cluster
—
3380 ly
8.60 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6569
Globular cluster
—
27 723 ly
9.47 V
Sagittarius
NGC 657
Open cluster
—
—
—
Cassiopeia
NGC 6573
Stellar association
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6583
Open cluster
—
7378 ly
10.00 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6584
Globular cluster
—
42 400 ly
8.17 V
Telescopium
NGC 659
Open cluster
—
10 338 ly
7.90 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6596
Open cluster
—
—
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6603
Open cluster
—
9235 ly
11.10 V
Sagittarius
NGC 6604
Open cluster
—
—
6.50 V
Serpens
NGC 6605
Open cluster
—
—
6.00 V
Serpens
NGC 6624
Globular cluster
—
25 766 ly
—
Sagittarius
NGC 6625
Open cluster
—
—
9.00 V
Scutum
NGC 663
Open cluster
—
9346 ly
7.10 V
Cassiopeia
NGC 6631
Open cluster
—
9106 ly
11.70 V
Scutum