NGC 361
NGC 361 is an open star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud, in the southern constellation Tucana. It sits at coordinates similar to RA 01h 02m 10.1s, Dec −71° 36′ 17″ (J2000) and is about 180,000 light-years away.
The cluster appears about 2.6 by 2.6 arcminutes across. Its apparent brightness in visible light is magnitude 12.24, with about 0.40 magnitudes of dimming due to interstellar dust.
NGC 361 is relatively old for an open cluster, with an age of around 8.1 billion years. It has a mass of about 2.15 × 10^5 solar masses and a total luminosity of about 1.04 × 10^5 times the Sun’s. Its mass-to-light ratio is roughly 2.1, meaning it contains more mass for its light than many younger clusters.
It was discovered on September 6, 1826 by James Dunlop. Dreyer described it as very faint, fairly large, not very elongated, with a center that grows brighter toward the middle. The cluster is also known as ESO 051-SC 012.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:53 (CET).