NGC 2516 - THE DIAMOND CLUSTER

OPEN CLUSTER IN CARINA

 (ra: 07.58,3/ dec -60:52)

February  2010, Complejo La Aldea - Villa de Merlo San Luis, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Open Cluster

Visual Brightness: 3.8

Apparent Diameter: 30 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 1300 lights years

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: William Optics Zenithstar 66 with WO 0.8 x fr/ff

CAMERA: SXVF H9

GUIDING: Celestron C8 SCT working at f6 (roughly)

IMAGE ACQUISITION: AstroArt 3.0 - Control Interface 3.72 plug in

FILTERS: Astronomik Type II - Atik Filter Wheel

SKY CONDITIONS: rural skies - transparency and seeing regular

EXPOSURES: LRGB (20,20,20,20)

PROCESSING: Median Combine in Images Plus, CCD Sharp, Photoshop CS2

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

A bright and young open cluster in the constellation of Carina. It contains more than 100 stars. The brightest member is a red giant shining at magnitude 5. NGC 2516 is very easy to spot for the naked eye in darks locations. Since the cluster is rather big, binoculars tends to give the best view. Observers of binary stars will note that three fixed visual binaries are found in the cluster. All three have eighth-magnitude primaries and eighth- to ninth-magnitude companions.

The Cluster was discovered by French Astronomer Abbe Lacalle in 1751-1752.