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NGC 2547
Mel 84, Cr 177, Rb 71
RA 08:10:40
Dec -49° 15.0'
Open
cluster |
This cluster was discovered by Lacaille and
included in his 1755 catalogue as Class III No. 2. In his half-an-inch 8x
telescope he saw it as "five faint stars like letter T in nebulosity."
h: "chief star 7th mag about, of a very
large, loose, brilliant cluster of very scattered stars, 1 of 7th mag, 2 of 8th
mag, rest 9..16th mag. Fills more than field; 100..150 stars." On a second
occassion he called it "a large loose cluster 8th class of large and small
stars, full 20' diameter. Has in it about 20 stars above 11th mag, and one neat
double star. Place that of a star 8th mag in the following part."
In "Results
of Astronomical Observations .. at the Cape of Good Hope" (1847), Herschel
notes that this object is Dunlop 411; this is evidently not the case, since
Dunlop 411 is the beautiful galaxy NGC 4945.
Harrington calls it a "spectacular open
cluster ... more than 80 stars make up this dazzling cast, with more than a
dozen shining brighter than 9th magnitude. Many of them appear to form lines and
curves, giving me the impression of a crooked cross lying on its side."
11x80: Noticeable open
cluster near Gamma Vel. It is an irregular triangle-shaped group of over a dozen
stars, one of which is considerably brighter. This primary doesn’t have any
particular colour. (suburban, hazy skies) [AS]
6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian:
(suburban skies) Interesting loose cluster of large and small stars. It is a
large scattered grouping of about 10 brighter stars and 20 fainter members. Five
of the brighter stars make a north-south curved loop which becomes a spiral at
the southern end.
(exurban skies) Fills the 30’ field with curved
looping chains of stars enclosing two dark patches. These two patches, and the
surrounding chains, form a lob-sided comic-heart. With the wider field of the
50x eyepiece, the outliers of the cluster also lie in loops. This loose
structuring displays minimum concentration. Large range in brightness: some very
faint, others 8th magnitude, but no one star central or dominating. All stars
white, no colours noticed. No haze from unresolved background stars. [AS] |
