Menu

NGC 3960 — Open Cluster in Centaurus

Open Cluster Good (48/100)
Magnitude 8.3m OpenCluster Centaurus (Cen) Visible
Star Map
+ List + Plan Star Hop

Observe

1Properties

Magnitude 8.3
Angular Size 6.0′
Cl, pL, pRi, gpmbM, st 13

Position & Identifiers

RA 11h 50m 33.2s
Dec -55° 40' 11.3"
Constellation Centaurus (Cen)
Catalog NGC 3960

2How easy to spot?

Sign in and configure your equipment and default location to see a personalized row.
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 Feb – Apr (peak: Mar)

4 Eyepiece View

Log in to set your own equipment
125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 3960 · 6.0′ diameter

5 Best Magnification

Explore

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 3882
Hard+
Barred spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 11.81 0.9° Centaurus
Blue planetary
NGC 3918
Medium+
Small bright planetary nebula
Planetary Nebula mag 8.0 1.5° Centaurus
NGC 4230
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 9.0 3.8° Centaurus
NGC 4337
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 8.9 5.2° Crux
NGC 4103
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 7.0 6.0° Crux
C97
NGC 3766
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 5.3 6.2° Centaurus
Show on Map

Explore Nightbase

Related knowledge, tools, and stories — no observation planning required.

Centaurus
Mythology, bright stars, and deep-sky highlights.
Constellation
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram — Reading Stars Like a Map
The HR diagram turns the night sky into a physics map: every named star has a spot, every spot tells you mass, age, and fate. A guide for amateur observers.
Article
Jupiter
The Great Red Spot, cloud belts, and the Galilean moons.
Deep dive
}