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NGC 2477 in the constellation of Puppis
 

 
Description of object:

NGC 2477

NGC 2477 (Caldwell 71) is an open star cluster in the constellation of Puppis and has an apparent diameter of nearly 30 arcminutes. NGC 2477 is one of the most beautiful open star clusters in the southern sky and offers a visually stunning sight. It looks almost like a high-resolution globular cluster, but globular cluster without the dense center.

NGC 2477 consists of about 300 stars, the brightest of which have 12th magnitude. Its distance to the solar system is given as 4000 light years, its age is given as 700 million years. The star cluster is classified as type I 3 r. Only about 1.5 degrees west is the open star cluster NGC 2451. The faint nebulae in the background (GN 07.53.0) are a conglomerate of emission and reflection nebulae of the apparent size of 4 to 5 degrees.

NGC 2477 was discovered in 1751 by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who is also called the "father of southern astronomy". Further information about NGC 2477 and NGC 2451 can be found at the following URL from ESO.

 
Just 1.5 degrees east of NGC 2477 is the open star cluster NGC 2451. Load large mosaic images  (1800 x 1200 Pixel    2800 x 2100 Pixel)
 

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