About NGC 2071
NGC 2071 is an uncommon cluster. It sits in the constellation Ori and shines at apparent magnitude 8.
A star cluster still wrapped in the nebula that made it — newborn stars lighting up their own birth cloud.
Uncommon cluster 25 EP
NGC 2071
RA 86.7803° · Dec 0.2943° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Cluster still wrapped in its gas +12
- Star cluster +7
- In Orion's hunting ground +6
Total score 25
9 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Star cluster · +7
- Cluster still wrapped in its gas · +12
- In Orion's hunting ground · +6
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A star cluster still wrapped in the nebula that made it — newborn stars lighting up their own birth cloud.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Orion.
- Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — that's when to go looking.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. The stars are blue-white and brand new; the gas around them glows red, ionised by their ultraviolet glare.
How we came to know it
- The New General Catalogue. Its NGC number comes from J. L. E. Dreyer's 1888 catalogue, itself built on decades of sky sweeps by William Herschel and his sister Caroline.
Properties
- constellation
- Ori
- dso type
- Cl+N
- mag
- 8
- name
- NGC 2071
- radial velocity kms
- 64
- redshift
- 0.0002
- size arcmin
- 7
How to see it
Look for NGC 2071 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 8, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 2071 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 NGC 2071 is an uncommon cluster
NGC 2071 scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star cluster, Cluster still wrapped in its gas and In Orion's hunting ground — 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.