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NGC 2972 — Open Cluster in Vela

Open Cluster Fair (39/100)
Magnitude 9.9m OpenCluster Vela (Vel) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 9.9
Angular Size 3.6′
Cl, S, lRi, pC, st 13

Position & Identifiers

RA 09h 40m 11.5s
Dec -50° 19' 15.2"
Constellation Vela (Vel)
Catalog NGC 2972

2How easy to spot?

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

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

Medium 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

NGC 2972 · 3.6′ 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 2910
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 7.2 3.0° Vela
NGC 2925
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 8.0 3.3° Vela
NGC 3105
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 9.7 5.4° Vela
NGC 3033
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 8.8 6.2° Vela
NGC 3201
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 6.8 7.3° Vela
NGC 3283
Medium
Bright spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 11.74 9.7° Vela
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