About Butterfly Cluster
Butterfly Cluster is a rare cluster. It sits in the constellation Sco and shines at apparent magnitude 4.2.
Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Rare cluster 33 EP
Butterfly Cluster
RA 265.0865° · Dec -32.2542° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesRare 46 pts → Epic
- Messier object +12
- Has a proper name +8
- Star cluster +7
- Bright deep-sky object +6
Total score 33
13 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Star cluster · +7
- Messier object · +12
- Bright deep-sky object · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- constellation
- Sco
- dso type
- OCl
- mag
- 4.2
- messier
- yes
- messier number
- 006
- name
- Butterfly Cluster
- named
- yes
How to see it
Look for Butterfly Cluster in the constellation Sco. At apparent magnitude 4.2, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Butterfly 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.
Why Butterfly Cluster is a rare cluster
Butterfly Cluster scores 33 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Star cluster, Messier object, Bright deep-sky object and Has a proper name — 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.