Open Cluster NGC 3532

NGC 3532
NGC 3532: Section of the DSS2. Here could be your picture. [147]

History

Nicholas-Louis de Lacaille (also: de la Caille) observed the cluster in 1751-1752 with a ½" telescope at 8x during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. He classified it as a nebulous cluster of stars and noted: «A prodigious cluster of small, tightly-packed stars, filling the shape of a semi-circle 20 to 25 minutes in diameter.» [8]

James Dunlop observed the cluster three times in 1826-1827 using his 9-inch reflecting telescope at his home in Parramatta (NSW) in Australia. He listed the cluster as Δ 323 and noted: «(5 Centauri, Bode) is a very large cluster of stars about the 9th magnitude, with a red star of the 7-8th magnitude, north following the centre of the cluster. Elliptical figure: the stars are pretty regularly scattered.» [50]

John Herschel listed the cluster as h 3315 and observed it four times using his 18.3-inch reflector at South Africa. Sweep 434 (31 March 1834): «Chief star of a very large, round, loosely scattered cluster of stars 8...12 magnitudes, which fills 2 or 3 fields. A fine bright object.» Sweep 435 (1 April 1834): «The chief star of a superb cluster, which has several elegant double stars, and many orange-coloured ones.» Sweep 543 (4 February 1835): «A glorious cluster of immense magnitude, being at least 2 fields in extent every way. The stars are 8, 9, 10, and 11 mag, but chiefly 10 mag, of which there must be at least 200. It is most brilliant object of the kind I have ever seen.» [11]

Physical Properties

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
DesignationNGC 3532
TypeOCL (II1m)
Right Ascension (J2000.0)11h 05m 40.0s
Declination (J2000.0)-58° 44' 00"
Diameter50 arcmin
Photographic (blue) magnitude3.2 mag
Visual magnitude3.0 mag
Metric Distance0.497 kpc
Dreyer Description!!, Cl, eL, R, lC, st 8…12
Identification, Remarksh 3315; GC 2308; OCL 839; ESO 128-SC31

Finder Chart

The open cluster NGC 3532 is located in the constellation Carina. Unfortunately it is not visible from Europe. On 6 March it in opposition with the Sun and is therefore highest in the sky at local midnight.

Carina: Open Cluster NGC 3532
Finder Chart Open Cluster NGC 3532
never
13:33 | -15.6°
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 2025-08-07. [149, 160]

Objects Within a Radius of 20°

References

  • [8] 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
  • [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 Sky Atlas, Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS); aladin.unistra.fr
  • [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