Open Cluster NGC 2477

NGC 2477 & NGC 2451
NGC 2477 & NGC 2451: Section of the DSS2. Here could be your picture. [147]

History

The discovery of the open cluster NGC 2477 is credited to the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (also: Abbé de La Caille) in 1751. He used a 1/2-inch telescope at 8x magnification during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. On his list of 42 discovered nebulae he listed it as number three with the notes: «Large nebula of 15-20 arc minutes in diameter.» [730]

James Dunlop listed this cluster as Δ 535 and observed it five times using his 9-inch speculum reflector at Parramatta, New South Wales in Australia. First observation on 8 May 1826. He described the cluster as follows: «A pretty large faint nebula, easily resolvable into small stars, or rather a cluster of very small stars, with a small faint nebula near the north preceding side, which is rather difficult to resolve into exceedingly small stars. This is probably two clusters or nebula in the same line; the small nebula is probably three times the distance of the large nebula.» [50]

John Herschel listed this cluster as h 3103 and made three observations from South Africa: Sweep 540 on 1 February 1835: «Cluster 6th class, bright, large, rich, not very highly condensed in the middle. Stars very remarkably equal. All 12 or 13th mag. Very few 14th mag; none 11th mag. A fine object.» Sweep 659 on 24 December 1835: «Viewed. A very beautiful large cluster, very rich; stars nearly equal, and 12th mag, gradually brighter in the middle, not much compressed in the middle; more than fills the field. (N.B. It is visible in the finder of the equatorial, and in the telescope of that instrument appears as a fine cluster.» Sweep 661 on 26 December 1835: «Superb cluster, gradually brighter in the middle, 20' diameter, much more than fills the whole field. Stars 10 and 11th mag all nearly equal.» [11]

Physical Properties

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
DesignationNGC 2477
TypeOCL (I3r)
Right Ascension (J2000.0)07h 52m 10.0s
Declination (J2000.0)-38° 31' 48"
Diameter20 arcmin
Visual magnitude5.8 mag
Metric Distance1.222 kpc
Dreyer Description!, Cl, B, Ri, L, lC, st 12
Identification, Remarksh 3103; GC 1593; OCL 720; ESO 311-SC17

Finder Chart

The open cluster NGC 2477 is located in the constellation Puppis. On 17 January it in opposition with the Sun and is therefore highest in the sky at local midnight. Best time for observation is around [Not visible]. At a declination of -38° the is raises only 4° above the southern horizon as seen from Switzerland. The more south you go, the better it can be seen.

Puppis: Open Cluster NGC 2477
Finder Chart Open Cluster NGC 2477
never
13:09 | 4.6°
always
Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. Times are shown for timezone UTC, Latitude 46.7996°, Longitude 8.23225°, Horizon height 5°, Date 2025-06-25. [149, 160]

Objects Within a Radius of 25°

References

  • [11] Results of astronomical observations made during the years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, at the Cape of Good Hope ... : being the completion of a telescopic survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens, commenced in 1825; Herschel, John F. W.; London: published by Smith, Elder and Co., 1847; DOI:10.3931/e-rara-22242
  • [50] VIII. A catalogue of nebulæ and clusters of stars in the southern hemisphere, observed at Paramatta in New South Wales, by James Dunlop, Esq. In a letter addressed to Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Bart. K. C. B. late Governor of New South Wales. Presented to the Royal Society by John Frederick William Herschel, Esq. Vice President; James Dunlop; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 118, pages 113-151, published 1 January 1828; DOI:10.1098/rstl.1828.0010
  • [147] Aladin Lite; aladin.unistra.fr/AladinLite
  • [149] SkySafari 6 Pro, Simulation Curriculum; skysafariastronomy.com
  • [160] The STScI Digitized Sky Survey; archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form
  • [277] Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge; Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke; 2021-02-17
  • [730] Sur les Étoiles Néebuleuses Du Ciel Austral; l'Abbe de la Caille; Mémoires de l'Académie Royale Des Sciences, 1755, page 194; gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k35533