Star cluster
ASCC 42
Open star cluster · 141 million years
An open cluster of stars born together from the same gas cloud in the Milky Way’s disc; the Galaxy’s tidal forces will disperse it within a few hundred million years. Position, distance, age and member count come from the MWSC catalogue; the total brightness is roughly estimated from the member count.
| Type | Star cluster |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Carina |
| Distance | 792 pc (2.6 thousand ly) |
| Age | 141 million years |
| Member stars (MWSC) | 98 |
| Reddening E(B−V) | 0.17 |
| Source | MWSC (Kharchenko et al. 2013) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 7h 52m 33.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −52° 59′ 42″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 37° N. South of latitude 37° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 558 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 46 million years.