Epic cluster 52 EP

NGC 2168

RA 92.2711° · Dec 24.3386° · openngc

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Score breakdown

· 8 badges

52 pts · Epic

Epic 78 pts → Anomaly

Messier object +12
Coming towards us +10
Star cluster +7
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
Bright deep-sky object +6
Big on the sky +5
Open cluster +3
On the zodiac +3

Total score 52

26 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

Star cluster · +7
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
Messier object · +12
Bright deep-sky object · +6
Open cluster · +3
On the zodiac · +3
Big on the sky · +5
Coming towards us · +10

Trivia

Hard to believe

Messier object. One of the 110 showpieces of the Messier list — catalogued as M35.

What it actually is

What it actually is. An open cluster: a few hundred stars born together out of one collapsing cloud, still drifting along in loose formation.

Sense of scale

In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.
Sense of scale. Gravity is not strong enough to hold it. Within a few hundred million years these siblings will be scattered right around the galaxy.

Find it in the sky

How to spot it. At magnitude 5.1 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Gemini.
Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Properties

constellation: Gem
dist ly: 2886.0809
dso type: OCl
mag: 5.1
messier: yes
messier number: 035
name: NGC 2168
radial velocity kms: -6
size arcmin: 24

Nearby objects

About NGC 2168

NGC 2168 is an epic cluster. It lies about 2,886.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Gem and shines at apparent magnitude 5.1.

An open cluster: a few hundred stars born together out of one collapsing cloud, still drifting along in loose formation.

How to see it

Look for NGC 2168 in the constellation Gem. At apparent magnitude 5.1, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, NGC 2168 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 2168 is an epic cluster

NGC 2168 scores 52 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 26 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 8 science badges — Star cluster, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Messier object, Bright deep-sky object, Open cluster, On the zodiac, Big on the sky and Coming towards us — 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.