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NGC 2017
RA 05:39:24
Dec -17° 51.0'
Open cluster |
h: "a fine clustering group of large
stars."
The entry in the NGC reads: "cluster of
large stars." In fact, this 'cluster' is dominated by the multiple star,
h3780, which has at least six components. The stars are of various colours,
making it an interesting object. The components, A-F, have the following
magnitudes: 6.4, 7.9. 8.5. 9.2. 8.4 and 8.1.
Hartung notes that this “can hardly be
called a cluster” and writes: “This attractive group of apparently six
stars, the faintest just visible with 7.5cm, shows different colours, yellow,
orange, bluish and ashy. Close examination discloses that the bluish star is a
small pair (9.0, 9.7, 1.5 arcsec, 357 deg) and that the brightest star is also a
close pair (6.8, 8.3, 0.8 arcsec, 149 deg) which 20cm will resolve. These stars
seem to form a physical system and there has been little change since Dembowski
measured them in 1877.”
Steve Coe, observing with a 13” f/5.6,
notes: “Six stars, 4 pretty bright, 2 pretty faint, nice asterism.”
The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that
this is a nonexistent object. Their coded description reads NOCL S. |
