NGC 2477 is an intermediate open cluster located in the Southern constellation Puppis. However, because of it’s compact and spherical shape it can be easily mistaken for a globular cluster. Another interesting fact about the shape of NGC 2477 is that it is often thought to resemble an electric guitar and is even sometimes identified as ” The Electric Guitar Cluster”. In this star cluster there is about 330 stars and the cluster itself has an apparent magnitude of 5.8. This clusters age is thought to be around 700 million years old and is about 4000 light-years from Earth. It was discovered in 1751 by French Astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.Â
NGC 2477 is best seen from southern latitudes and can even be seen without the aid of optics as it is an fairly bright object but it is best to use a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Depending on what you use to view NGC 2477, 1.5° Northwest of NGC 2477 is another stunning star cluster NGC 2451 , if you’re viewing device allows, NGC 2477 and NGC 2451 are in the same field of view and the pair of clusters is said to be one of the most beautiful pairs of clusters to view in our night sky.
To examine the overall characteristics of NGC 2477, including its colour, brightness, age, and chemical composition. Using Skynet, I captured a series of 15 images of the cluster using the Prompt5 telescope. Specifically, I obtained 5 images in each of the following filters B, V, and R, with exposure durations of 90s, 40s, and 20s respectively.
After capturing my images in Skynet, I used Afterglow to put the final colour image together and here is the reddened and de-reddened images below.
As you can see, in both images there is very few blue stars in the cluster which aligns well with its age. In the images I captured there appears to be nothing really special about this cluster and location but an expanded image search provides a zoomed out view of this cluster where the beauty really lies. We can see that this cluster is surrounded in red dust and right under NGC 2477 a very prominent blue star.
I also used Cluster Pro Plus to gather more information about this cluster and you can actually see there are a few blue stragglers in this cluster. Here are the Cluster Pro Plus results:
NGC 2477 was an interesting cluster to study. I wouldn’t have known that the cluster actually has a few blue star stragglers, although few, they are there. I also found it interesting that NGC 2451 is so close to NGC 2477 yet the two clusters are look and are very different. Overall I enjoyed learning about the NGC 2477 cluster and star clusters in general. It can sometimes be difficult to figure out what you’re looking at exactly but through extensive research, you can actually find out some pretty spectacular facts about the space that surrounds us.
Sources:
https://www.astrobin.com/ik98jw/?q=ngc%202477Â
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/caldwell-71Â
https://cosmicpursuits.com/1507/ngc-2477-electric-guitar-cluster/Â