About NGC 2184
NGC 2184 is an uncommon cluster. It lies about 1,908.5 light-years from Earth and sits in the constellation Ori.
An open cluster: a few hundred stars born together out of one collapsing cloud, still drifting along in loose formation.
Uncommon cluster 22 EP
NGC 2184
RA 92.7486° · Dec -3.4952° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Star cluster +7
- Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
- In Orion's hunting ground +6
- Open cluster +3
Total score 22
12 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Star cluster · +7
- Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
- Open cluster · +3
- In Orion's hunting ground · +6
Trivia
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
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation 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.
Could we get there?
- Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.
Getting there
- Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 33.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
Properties
- constellation
- Ori
- dist ly
- 1908.4611
- dso type
- OCl
- name
- NGC 2184
- radial velocity kms
- 42
- redshift
- 0.0001
- size arcmin
- 6.6
How to see it
Look for NGC 2184 in the constellation Ori.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 2184 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 2184 is an uncommon cluster
NGC 2184 scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Star cluster, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Open cluster 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.