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NGC 6253 — Open Cluster in Ara

Open Cluster Good (40/100)
Magnitude 10.0m OpenCluster Ara Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 10.0
Angular Size 6.0′
Cl, S, triangular, st 13

Position & Identifiers

RA 16h 59m 06.0s
Dec -52° 43' 00.0"
Constellation Ara
Catalog NGC 6253

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

Easy on Seestar S50

3Visibility

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Best season Apr – Jun (peak: May)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 6253 · 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 6208
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 7.2 1.8° Ara
NGC 6152
Easy
Open cluster
Open Cluster mag 8.0 4.0° Norma
C82
NGC 6193
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 5.2 4.8° Ara
IC 4651
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 6.9 4.9° Ara
C81
NGC 6352
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 8.2 6.0° Ara
NGC 6165
Easy
Planetary nebula — try an OIII filter
Planetary Nebula mag 6.71 6.1° Norma
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