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Caldwell 104 — Globular Cluster in Tucana

NGC 362

Globular Cluster Showpiece (83/100)
Magnitude 6.6m GlobularCluster Tucana Visible
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Virginia/R. Schiavon (Univ. of Virginia). License: Public domain. (Wikimedia Commons)
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About C104

Description

NGC 362 is a bright globular cluster in Tucana, about 27,700 light-years away. At magnitude 6.6 and spanning 13 arcminutes, it appears projected against the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, though it is actually a foreground Milky Way object.

Observing Tips

A fine globular visible in binoculars near the Small Magellanic Cloud. A 6-inch telescope resolves the outer stars at 100x+. The nearby SMC provides a beautiful backdrop. Best from southern latitudes in autumn and winter.

History

Discovered by James Dunlop on August 31, 1826 from Australia. Its apparent proximity to the SMC initially caused confusion about its true distance until spectroscopy confirmed it as a Milky Way cluster.

Fun Facts

NGC 362 is a relatively young globular cluster at about 10-11 billion years old, making it 2-3 billion years younger than most Milky Way globulars. Its retrograde orbit hints at an extragalactic origin.

Observe

1Properties

Magnitude 6.6
Angular Size 8.7′
Distance 27,700 ly
Globular Cluster [Distance: 27700 ly]

Position & Identifiers

RA 01h 03m 14.2s
Dec -70° 50' 56.4"
Constellation Tucana
Catalog C104
Also known as NGC 362
Physical size
13 light-years across — tens of light-years across — wider than the solar neighbourhood

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. Easy Easy Easy
150mm Newt. Easy Easy Easy
C8 203mm Easy Easy Easy
Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

Bortle 3 = rural · 4 = outer suburbs · 5 = suburbs

Easy on Seestar S50

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Sep – Nov (peak: Oct)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

C104 · 8.7′ diameter · N up, E left

5 Best Magnification

6Metallicity

-2.5 -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 Ancient halo Disc / bulge M92 M3 M71 NGC 6441 C104 [Fe/H] = -1.26

[Fe/H] = -1.26 — these stars formed from gas about 18× poorer in iron than the Sun.

7Concentration class

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII Dense (I) Loose (XII) III Core / half-light / tidal tidal 10.4′ half 0.8′ core 0.18′

Shapley-Sawyer class III — extremely centrally concentrated core.

Explore

8 Classification Decoder

Discover

9

Light Travel Time Machine

10

Relativistic Travel

Community Photos (1)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Virginia/R. Schiavon (Univ. of Virginia). License: Public domain. (Wikimedia Commons)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Virginia/R. Schiavon (Univ. of Virginia). License: Public domain. (Wikimedia Commons)

Skybred Mar 2, 2026

Nearby in the Sky

Other targets within a few degrees — pan your scope a little and keep exploring.

Visibility scores assume a 150 mm Newton at Bortle 4.

NGC 361
Hard+
Compact globular cluster
Globular Cluster mag 11.8 0.8° Tucana
NGC 411
Hard+
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 12.10 1.0° Tucana
NGC 406
Hard+
Barred spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.0 1.0° Tucana
NGC 416
Medium+
Compact globular cluster
Globular Cluster mag 11.0 1.6° Tucana
NGC 419
Easy
Compact globular cluster
Globular Cluster mag 10.0 2.1° Tucana
NGC 265
Hard+
Compact globular cluster
Globular Cluster mag 12.0 2.9° Tucana
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