IC 361 is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Camelopardalis. It was discovered by the British amateur astronomer William F. Denning on February 11, 1893.[6] This cluster is located at a distance of 10,500 ± 230 light-years from the Sun.[2] It is very faint with an apparent visual magnitude of 11.7,[3] requiring a telescope to view. Because of its faintness, this cluster has been poorly studied.[7] The cluster spans an angular size of 6.0.[3]

IC 361
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Right ascension04h 18m 56.6s[1]
Declination+58° 15′ 07″[1]
Distance10,500 ± 230 ly (3.22 ± 0.07 kpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)11.7[3]
Apparent dimensions (V)6.0[3]
Physical characteristics
Mass2,459±491[4] M
Radius24.5 ly[2]
Estimated age759 Myr[1]
Other designationsC 0414+581[5]
Associations
ConstellationCamelopardalis
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

This intermediate–age cluster is located in or beyond the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.[7] It is situated near dark nebulae, resulting in significant levels of extinction due to interstellar dust. The cluster has a core radius of 2.0′±0.4′ and a cluster radius of 8.0′±0.5′. At an estimated distance of 3.22 kpc this corresponds to a physical core radius of 6.1 ly and a cluster radius of 24.5 ly.[2] It has an estimated age of 759 million years.[1] The cluster is mildly metal deficient, matching the metallicity gradient of the Milky Way.[7]

Two candidate blue stragglers have been identified in this cluster.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Tarricq, Y.; et al. (March 2021), "3D kinematics and age distribution of the open cluster population", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 647, id. A19, arXiv:2012.04017, Bibcode:2021A&A...647A..19T, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039388.
  2. ^ a b c d Joshi, Gireesh C. (March 2022), "A near-infrared and UBVRI photometric analysis of the open cluster IC 361", Indian Journal of Physics, 96 (3): 659–669, arXiv:1901.02948, Bibcode:2022InJPh..96..659J, doi:10.1007/s12648-021-02020-5.
  3. ^ a b c d Aranda, Ted (2011), 3,000 Deep-Sky Objects, An Annotated Catalogue, Springer New York, p. 122, ISBN 9781441994196.
  4. ^ Almeida, Anderson; et al. (October 2023), "Revisiting the mass of open clusters with Gaia data", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 525 (2): 2315–2340, arXiv:2307.15182, Bibcode:2023MNRAS.525.2315A, doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2291.
  5. ^ "IC 361", SIMBAD, Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg, retrieved 2024-06-29.
  6. ^ Seligman, Courtney, "IC Objects: IC 350 - 399", Celestial Atlas, retrieved 2024-06-29.
  7. ^ a b c Zdanavičius, Justas; et al. (January 2010), "IC 361, a distant intermediate-age cluster in Camelopardalis†", Star clusters: basic galactic building blocks throughout time and space, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium, vol. 266, pp. 557–560, Bibcode:2010IAUS..266..557Z, doi:10.1017/S1743921309992080.
  8. ^ Rain, M. J.; et al. (June 2021), "A new, Gaia-based, catalogue of blue straggler stars in open clusters", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 650, id. A67, arXiv:2103.06004, Bibcode:2021A&A...650A..67R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202040072.

Further reading

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