Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Puppis (Pup)  ·  Contains:  NGC 2451  ·  The star c Pup
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NGC2451 against Gum 12, Charles Bracken
NGC2451 against Gum 12
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NGC2451 against Gum 12

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC2451 against Gum 12, Charles Bracken
NGC2451 against Gum 12
Powered byPixInsight

NGC2451 against Gum 12

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Description

For me to image an open cluster, it needs to have something else going for it. NGC2451 is just such a cluster. It sits against a northern arm of the gigantic Gum 12 nebula, providing it with an interesting backdrop. Further, the very bright (magnitude 3.6) star c Puppis anchors a few dozen other bright stars in an area less than a degree. And finally, it is astrophysically interesting in that it was hypothesized in 1994 and proven in 1996 that this is actually an optical alignment of two open clusters, one twice the distance of the others. Interestingly, c Puppis is a member of the more distant group.

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NGC2451 against Gum 12, Charles Bracken