Hi Orestis,
Quote:
Originally Posted by orestis
While i was looking south i noticed a tight grouping of stars about 15 degrees lower than Canopus which was gob smacking.So many stars.great open cluster.Does anyone know what open cluster it might of been?
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Congratulations on the sketch -- very good. Sketching is an excellent way to sharpen your observing skils and you do see more that way because it forces you to look for detail.
I have attached a .pdf of a map made from Megastar that shows the area to the north around to southeast of Canopus.
Please note, rather than being oriented N up and W to the right as per convention, I have oriented it so that it will be roughly at the same angle if you face a little south of east and hold the map in front of you so N is upper left and W is upper right.
Not easy to say whch cluster you saw, because at about the 15 degree mark from Canopus, in an arc from N to ESE is a huge swathe of clusters and nebulae. I guess the leading contenders would be NGC 2516 whch is unfortunately unmarked on this map but beside the bright star Avior (Epsilon Carinae) -- one of the members of the "false cross" asterism.
Other leading candidates include IC 2391, NGC 2546, NGC 2477, NGC 2451 & Cr 135. All are bright, well resolved open clusters and are at the 15-20 degree distance from Canopus.
Why not find it again tonight and then compare to the map and let us know which one it was?
Thanks for your report!
Best,
Les D