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EntityQ372496· pop 34· linked from 589 articles

Also known as New General Catalogue 3532, Caldwell 91, C 91

open cluster in the constellation Carina

Key facts

Right ascension
11 05 33
Declination
−58 ° 43.8 ′
Distance
1,321 ly (405 pc )
Other designations
NGC 3532, Caldwell 91, Cr 238, Mel 103, C 1104-584, Cl* 1104-584, CL 1104-584, Lacaille II.10, Football Cluster, Wishing Well Cluster
Constellation
Carina

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Distance from Earth
497
Image
NGC 3532 in Carina.jpg
Show 11 more facts
catalog code
[KPS2012] MWSC 1890
Commons category
NGC 3532
time of discovery or invention
1751-00-00
apparent magnitude
3.0
right ascension
166.4125
declination
-58.7533
radial velocity
4.85
parallax
2.0659
metallicity
0.00
right ascension component of proper motion
-10.379
declination component of proper motion
5.195
Sources (1)

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Article

NGC 3532 (Caldwell 91), also commonly known as the Pincushion Cluster, Football Cluster, the Black Arrow Cluster, or the Wishing Well Cluster, is an open cluster some 405 parsecs from Earth in the constellation Carina. Its population of approximately 150 stars of 7th magnitude or fainter includes seven red giants and seven white dwarfs. On 20 May 1990 it became the first target ever observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. A line from Beta Crucis through Delta Crucis passes somewhat to the north of NGC 3532. The cluster lies between the constellation Crux and the larger but fainter "False Cross" asterism. The 4th-magnitude Cepheid variable star x Carinae (V382 Car) appears near the southeast fringes, but it lies between the Sun and the cluster and is not a member of the cluster.

The cluster was first catalogued by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752. It was admired by John Herschel, who thought it one of the finest star clusters in the sky, with many double stars (binary stars).

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