RA 190.5701° · Dec -62.9958° · openngc
12 more points to reach Epic.
Coalsack Cluster is a rare cluster. It lies about 4,941.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cru and shines at apparent magnitude 6.9.
An open cluster: a few hundred stars born together out of one collapsing cloud, still drifting along in loose formation.
Look for Coalsack Cluster in the constellation Cru. At apparent magnitude 6.9, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, Coalsack 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.
Coalsack Cluster scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 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 Under the Southern Cross — 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.