RA 100.2427° · Dec 9.8955° · openngc
20 more points to reach Anomaly.
Christmas Tree Cluster is an epic cluster. It lies about 2,408.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Mon and shines at apparent magnitude 3.9.
A star cluster still wrapped in the nebula that made it — newborn stars lighting up their own birth cloud.
Look for Christmas Tree Cluster in the constellation Mon. At apparent magnitude 3.9, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Christmas Tree Cluster 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.
Christmas Tree Cluster scores 58 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 20 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 7 science badges — Star cluster, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Bright deep-sky object, Has a proper name, Cluster still wrapped in its gas, Big on the sky and Bright enough for the unaided eye — 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.