RA 102.9387° · Dec 0.4592° · openngc
15 more points to reach Epic.
Great Bird Cluster is a rare cluster. It lies about 2,873.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Mon and shines at apparent magnitude 6.
An open cluster: a few hundred stars born together out of one collapsing cloud, still drifting along in loose formation.
Look for Great Bird Cluster in the constellation Mon. At apparent magnitude 6, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Great Bird 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.
Great Bird Cluster scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Star cluster, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Bright deep-sky object, Has a proper name, Open cluster and Big on the sky — 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.