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IC 2581 — Open Cluster in Carina

Open Cluster Good (54/100)
Magnitude 4.3m OpenCluster Carina (Car) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 4.3
Angular Size 6.0′
Cl, around *5.4m

Position & Identifiers

RA 10h 27m 29.2s
Dec -57° 37' 02.3"
Constellation Carina (Car)
Catalog IC 2581

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

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Best season Jan – Mar (peak: Feb)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

IC 2581 · 6.0′ diameter

5 Best Magnification

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6 Classification Decoder

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 3255
Medium+
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 11.0 3.1° Carina
NGC 3372
eta Car nebula
Easy
Emission nebula — try an OIII filter
Emission Nebula mag 3.00 3.1° Carina
Collinder 228
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 4.4 3.3° Carina
NGC 3330
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 7.4 3.8° Vela
NGC 3114
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 4.2 4.1° Carina
U Car
Easy
Pulsating variable, period 38.8d
Variable Star mag 6.11 4.5° Carina
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