NGC 2451

Open Cluster NGC 2451 (= Collinder 161) in Puppis

Right Ascension 07 : 45.4 (h:m)
Declination -37 : 58 (deg:m)
Distance 0.85 (kly)
Visual Brightness 2.8 (mag)
Apparent Dimension 45 (arc min)

Discovered by Hodierna before 1654.

This cluster was probably another one discovered by Hodierna. Because of its southern declination, northern observers as Messier and William Herschel could not find it.

NGC 2451 consists of 40 stars, the brightest of which is of magnitude 3.6, and of spectral type B8. Its age was estimated at 36 million years, and it is receding from us at 26 km/sec. At only about 850 light years, this cluster is quite close to us.

In John Caldwell's List and in the Astronomical League's Southern Sky Binocular Club List.

  • SIMBAD Data of NGC 2451
  • Observing Reports for NGC 2451 (IAAC Netastrocatalog)


    Hartmut Frommert (spider@seds.org)
    Christine Kronberg (smil@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)

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    Last Modification: 21 Mar 1998, 14:00 MET