Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Scorpius (Sco)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6281  ·  PK347+01.1  ·  Sh2-2
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NGC 6281, Gary Imm
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NGC 6281

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NGC 6281, Gary Imm
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NGC 6281

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Description

This object is an open star cluster located 1800 light years away in the constellation of Scorpius.

Scorpius contains many wonderful deep sky objects. Of these, this object is the brightest star cluster in the constellation with an apparent magnitude of 5.4. It was not included in the either the Messier or Caldwell catalogues. Despite being the forgotten cluster, I think it is a beautiful object. It contains 55 stars with an apparent magnitude greater than 13.5 within a 20 minute radius of the center.

The majority of the stars are bright blue, but there are a number of red giants sprinkled in for good measure. The cluster stands out well from the background. The stars form a number of arcs and loops. A number of double stars are seen throughout, and I really like the triple star seen lower left of center.

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