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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Caldwell 96

NGC 2516 (also known as Caldwell 96) is an open star cluster in the southern sky in the constellation Carina discovered by Abbe Lacaille in 1751-1752. It is also called Southern Beehive or the Sprinter.

Description

This bright cluster itself is easily visible with the naked eye as a hazy patch, but is resolvable into stars using binoculars. It contains two 5th magnitude red giant stars and three main visual double stars: HJ 4027, HJ 4031 and I 29. A small telescope would be required to split the double stars, which are all pairs of 8-9 magnitude and 1-10 arcseconds separation.

NGC 2516 and the recently discovered nearby star cluster Mamajek 2 in Ophiuchus have similar age and metallicity. Recently, kinematic evidence was presented by E. Jilinski and coauthors that suggests that these two stellar groups may have formed in the same star-forming complex some 135 million years ago.

The cluster is surrounded by the 500-parsec diameter halo consisting of stars ejected from cluster.

References

  1. ^ Jones, K. G. (March 1969). "The search for the nebulae - VI". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 79: 213–222. Bibcode:1969JBAA...79..213J.
  2. ^ Weule, Genelle (2010). "Beginner's Guide to the Night Sky : Summer Sky Tour". abc.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  3. ^ Ventrudo, Brian (2009). "ESA's 'The "Southern Beehive" Cluster". americaspace.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  4. ^ Papadopoulos, Leonidas (2014). "ESA's 'Mission: Impossible' Sees First Light: Gaia Opens Her Eyes to the Galaxy « AmericaSpace". americaspace.com. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  5. ^ Imaging the Southern Sky : An Amateur Astronomer's Guide Chadwick, S., Cooper, I., pg.viii, Pub. Springer (2012)
  6. ^ Robert Burnham Jr. (1978). "Burnham's Celestial Handbook": 458. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Jilinski, E.; Ortega, V.G.; de la Reza, R.; Drake, N.A.; et al. (2009). "Dynamical Evolution and Spectral Characteristics of the Stellar Group Mamajek 2". Astrophysical Journal. 691 (1): 212. arXiv:0810.1198. Bibcode:2009ApJ...691..212J. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/691/1/212. S2CID 15570695.
  8. ^ Bouma, L. G.; Curtis, J. L.; Hartman, J. D.; Winn, J. N.; Bakos, G. Á. (2021), "Rotation and Lithium Confirmation of a 500 pc Halo for the Open Cluster NGC 2516", The Astronomical Journal, 162 (5): 197, arXiv:2107.08050, Bibcode:2021AJ....162..197B, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac18cd, S2CID 236088158

Bibliography