About IC 1207
IC 1207 is a common cluster. It sits in the constellation Sco.
A stellar association: a sprawling family of hot young stars that shared a birthplace but were never gravitationally bound to each other.
Common cluster 16 EP
IC 1207
RA 244.8613° · Dec -29.6511° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Star cluster +7
- Loose stellar association +6
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 16
6 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Star cluster · +7
- Loose stellar association · +6
- On the zodiac · +3
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A stellar association: a sprawling family of hot young stars that shared a birthplace but were never gravitationally bound to each other.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. It is already coming apart. Associations dissolve into the general population of the galaxy within tens of millions of years.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Scorpius.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around May — that's when to go looking.
How we came to know it
- The Index Catalogue. The IC was the 1895 and 1908 supplement to the NGC — the first catalogue in history to be filled largely with objects found on photographic plates rather than by eye.
Properties
- constellation
- Sco
- dso type
- *Ass
- name
- IC 1207
- size arcmin
- 2
How to see it
Look for IC 1207 in the constellation Sco.
Like any astronomical target, IC 1207 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why IC 1207 is a common cluster
IC 1207 scores 16 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star cluster, Loose stellar association and On the zodiac — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.