NGC 2360
Open cluster in the constellation Canis Major
title: "NGC 2360" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["canis-major", "ngc-objects", "open-clusters", "caldwell-objects", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1783"] description: "Open cluster in the constellation Canis Major" topic_path: "general/canis-major" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2360" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Open cluster in the constellation Canis Major ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox open cluster|"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | NGC 2360 |
| image | NGC2360 - SDSS DR14 (panorama).jpg |
| caption | SDSS |
| epoch | J2000 |
| ra | {{cite web |
| work | NGC/IC Project Database |
| title | Results for NGC 2360 |
| url | http://www.ngcicproject.org/ngcicdb.asp |
| access-date | 2010-12-03 |
| url-status | dead |
| archive-url | https://web.archive.org/web/20120520010558/http://www.ngcicproject.org/ngcicdb.asp |
| archive-date | 2012-05-20 |
| dec | |
| appmag_v | 7.2 |
| size_v | 13 |
| constellation | Canis Major |
| names | Caroline's Cluster, Caldwell 58, Cr 134, Mel 64 |
| :: |
| name = NGC 2360 | image = NGC2360 - SDSS DR14 (panorama).jpg | caption = SDSS | credit = | epoch = J2000 | ra = {{cite web |work = NGC/IC Project Database |title = Results for NGC 2360 |url = http://www.ngcicproject.org/ngcicdb.asp |access-date = 2010-12-03 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120520010558/http://www.ngcicproject.org/ngcicdb.asp |archive-date = 2012-05-20 | dec = | dist_ly = | dist_pc = | appmag_v = 7.2 | size_v = 13 | radius_ly = | absmag_v = | constellation = Canis Major | notes = | names = Caroline's Cluster, Caldwell 58, Cr 134, Mel 64 ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/NGC_2360_map.png" caption="Map showing the location of NGC 2360"] ::
NGC 2360 (also known as Caroline's Cluster{{cite simbad | title=NGC 2360 | access-date=2010-12-03 | title=SEDS Online NGC Database | work=Results for NGC 2360 | url=http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngc.cgi?N2360 | access-date=2010-12-03}} By the western edge of the cluster is the unrelated star, 5.5-magnitude HD 56405.
American astronomer Olin J. Eggen surveyed the cluster in 1968, concluding that the brightest star in the field, magnitude-8.96 HD 56847, is likely to lie in the field and not a true member of the cluster. He also identified one or possibly two blue stragglers. These are unexpectedly hot and luminous stars that appear younger than surrounding stars, and have likely developed by sucking matter off companion stars. Four are now recognised to be in the cluster. By analysing the masses of the smallest stars that have evolved into red giants—namely, stars of 1.8 or 1.9 solar masses—Swiss astronomers Jean-Claude Mermilliod and Michel Mayor were able to date the age of the cluster at 2.2 billion years. The cluster has a diameter of around 15 light-years and is located 3700 light-years from Earth.
::data[format=table] | [[File:Sirius Mirzam M41.jpg|250px]]Sirius and M41 (lower right), M50 (upper left), and NGC 2360 (lower left) | |---| ::
Notes
References
- Hoskin, Michael. (2005). "Caroline Herschel as observer". [[Journal for the History of Astronomy]].
- O'Meara, Stephen James. (2002). "The Caldwell Objects". [[Cambridge University Press]].
- Streicher, Magda. (April 2006). "Caroline Herschel's Deepsky Discoveries". The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa.
- Eggen, Olin J.. (1968). "The Intermediate-Age Cluster NGC 2360". The Astrophysical Journal.
- Fellman, Megan. (17 October 2011). "Astronomers Explain 'Blue Stragglers'". [[Northwestern University]].
- Ahumada, J. A.. (2007). "New catalogue of blue stragglers in open clusters". [[Astronomy and Astrophysics]].
- Mermilliod, Jean-Claude. (1990). "Red Giants in Open Clusters. III – Binarity and Stellar Evolution in Five Intermediate-age Clusters: NGC 2360, 2423, 5822, 6811, and IC 4756". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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