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NGC 5168 — Open Cluster in Centaurus

Open Cluster Fair (39/100)
Magnitude 9.1m OpenCluster Centaurus (Cen) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 9.1
Angular Size 4.2′
Cl, vF, S, vRi, st 15

Position & Identifiers

RA 13h 31m 05.3s
Dec -60° 56' 21.1"
Constellation Centaurus (Cen)
Catalog NGC 5168

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. Easy Easy 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 Mar – May (peak: Apr)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 5168 · 4.2′ 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.

IC 4291
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 9.70 1.3° Centaurus
NGC 5138
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 7.6 2.0° Centaurus
NGC 5281
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 5.9 2.7° Centaurus
NGC 5316
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 6.0 2.9° Centaurus
NGC 5189
Hard+
Planetary nebula — try an OIII filter
Planetary Nebula mag 10.0 5.0° Musca
S Cru
Medium
Pulsating variable, period 4.7d
Variable Star mag 6.58 5.3° Crux
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