Right Ascension | 06 : 08.4 (h:m) |
---|---|
Declination | +13 : 57 (deg:m) |
Distance | 3.6 (kly) |
Visual Brightness | 5.9 (mag) |
Apparent Dimension | 7 (arc min) |
Perhaps discovered by Hodierna before 1654. Discovered by William Herschel in 1784.
Possibly, this cluster was another discovery of Hodierna. However, his description is not sufficient for a safe identification. Anyway, this cluster was independently discovered by William Herschel on October 15, 1784 and cataloged by him as H VIII.24.
At its distance of about 3600 light-years (according to the Sky Catalogue 2000.0), open cluster NGC 2169 appears under a diameter of about 7 arc minutes and a total brightness of 5.9 magnitudes. The brightest of its about 30 stars is of magnitude 6.94, the hottest of spectral type B1, indicating an age of about 50 million light-years. It is involved in diffuse nebulosity, the nebula cataloged as Ced 78. Its Trumpler classification is I 3 p n. It is receding from us at 16 km/s.
Last Modification: February 1, 2002