Ptolemy’s Cluster
A bright open cluster near the Scorpion’s tail, written down by Ptolemy almost two thousand years ago.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Kind of object
- Open star cluster
- Distance
- 980 light years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 3.3, easy to see with the eye
- Size in the sky
- About half the width of the full Moon
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Catalogue
- M 7, NGC 6475
Figures from OpenNGC, CC BY-SA 4.0; the SEDS Messier catalogue, via Wikipedia’s table of Messier objects, CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- Butterfly ClusterAn open cluster in Scorpius, about three fingers away.
- ShaulaA blue-white subgiant in Scorpius, about three fingers away.
- Kaus AustralisA blue-white giant in Sagittarius, about three fingers away.
- Lagoon NebulaA nebula in Sagittarius, about a fist away.
- Trifid NebulaA nebula in Sagittarius, about a fist away.