NGC 2477 is a stunning open cluster located in the Milky Way rich constellation of Puppis. It's arguably the constellations finest cluster which also contains other superb examples such as M46, M47 and M93. At magnitude +5.8, NGC 2477 is faintly visible to the naked eye but easily seen with binoculars and a fantastic telescope object, especially in medium to large scopes. It's listed as number 71 in the Caldwell catalogue.

The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille during his tour of South Africa in 1751-52. In total it contains about 300 stars packed into an area 27 arc minutes in diameter with the brightest member star shining at magnitude +9.8. The four-magnitude difference between the combined cluster magnitude and the brightest component is an indication of how rich the cluster is.

NGC 2477 is too far south to have been included in Charles Messier's catalogue, but if he had observed from a more southerly latitude than Paris he almost certainly would have noticed this striking object. Twentieth century America astronomer Robert Burnham described NGC 2477 as "probably the finest of the galactic clusters in Puppis".

The cluster is easily found 2 degrees northwest of zeta Pup (ζ Pup - mag. +2.2) and just northwest of magnitude +4.5 star, b Pup. Located 1.5 degrees west of NGC 2477 and in the same binocular field of view lies large loose open cluster NGC 2451.

NGC 2451 is far closer compared to its compact neighbor. It has around 40 stars well dispersed. It brightest star is c puppis, a yellowish giant of magnitude 3.6. The cluster was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna in 1654. Only in recent years it was confirmed that NGC 2451 was actually two open clusters that lie along the same line of sight, labeled NGC 2451A and NGC 2451B, located at distances of 600 and 1,200 light-years respectively.

The sky background is filled with faint Hydrogen emission of the GUM Nebula, giving the whole area a nice contrast.

--FreeStarCharts/ESO

I received email on 31 December could have 30 minutes on Takahashi in southern hemisphere. So I first think LMC, then realize angular size of LMC 3x FOV. So out comes Sky Atlas 2000.0, as moon almost full and up during this time period search for object over 90 degrees in azimuth away from moon. See NGC 2451 and like colours then realize if centre properly can get NGC 2477 in same frame. Pencil and ruler to plot centre mark, convert HH:MM:SS to degrees, input into scope. It worked!

Four subs Ha, R, G, B 300 seconds. Ha sub is out of registration with the rest so I am working on that. Pretty happy with result and fact that managed to get both properly in frame.