When is the best time to observe NGC 2232?

NGC 2232 is best observed from November through January, with peak visibility during December when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 2232 located in the sky?

NGC 2232 lies in the constellation Monoceros at right ascension 06h 27m and declination -04° 45′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 2232?

At magnitude 3.9, NGC 2232 is visible to the naked eye from dark skies, easy in any binoculars.

NGC 2232 — Open Cluster in Monoceros

Open Cluster Excellent (73/100)

Magnitude 3.9^m OpenCluster Monoceros (Mon) Visible

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Observe

1Properties

Magnitude 3.9

Angular Size 9.9′

Description

B* (10 Mon) + Cl

Position & Identifiers

RA 06h 26m 36.0s

Dec -04° 45' 00.0"

Constellation Monoceros (Mon)

Catalog NGC 2232

Physical size

3.0 light-years across — comparable to the Sun's nearest-neighbour distance

2How easy to spot?

Telescope	Bortle 3	Bortle 4	Bortle 5
80 mm refractor 80mm refr.	Easy	Easy	Easy
150 mm Newton 150mm Newt.	Easy	Easy	Easy
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Easy	Easy	Easy

Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

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

Easy on Seestar S50

At 150mm under B5 skies you should resolve about 47 of 188 members.

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Nov – Jan (peak: Dec)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

NGC 2232 · 9.9′ diameter

5 Best Magnification

6Where this cluster sits in time

Open clusters span more than four orders of magnitude in age — from newborn OB associations to ancient, metal-rich survivors.

7 Colour-Magnitude Diagram

A cluster's colour-magnitude diagram reveals its age: the bluer the turn-off point where the main sequence bends into red giants, the younger the cluster.

Loading member data…

Each point is a Gaia-DR3 member. Colour encodes spectral type; size reflects membership probability.