Star cluster
NGC 3228
Open star cluster · 263 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 | Vela |
| Distance | 573 pc (1.9 thousand ly) |
| Age | 263 million years |
| Member stars (MWSC) | 53 |
| Reddening E(B−V) | 0.03 |
| Source | MWSC (Kharchenko et al. 2013) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 21m 25.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −51° 43′ 48″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 38° N. South of latitude 38° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in February, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 157. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 33 million years.