NGC 2482 -- Open Cluster in Puppis
Starfish Cluster
The constellation of the “Stern of the Ship Argo” (Puppis) is for the most part too far south from
my location in Central Maryland to view – but not all of it. There is a wide northern extension of
the constellation that rides the milky way north just to the east of Canis Major culminating in the
well-known Open Clusters of M46 and M47 (also do not forget the Open Cluster M93 south of
them). In addition, there are many additional Puppis Open Clusters along this stretch of the
Milky Way worth visiting. Two local Parks provided me far better southern views of the sky than
from my backyard, which I sketched eight of the best of the northern non-Messier Puppis Open
Clusters on the evenings of March 2nd and March 3rd (NGC 2421, 2479, 2482, 2489, 2509,
2527, 2567 and 2571).
NGC 2482 is a relatively faint but rich Open Cluster. There was little problem seeing it in the
110mm refractor. A small triangle of bright stars rests northeast of it which helped pinpoint the
Open Cluster’s location. The brightest stars of NGC 2482 are around magnitude 10 but most
of the 40+ stars making up the cluster were near or below the resolution of the telescope. Their
combined glow looked ethereal in the eyepiece. In larger telescopes, NGC 2482 displays fat
star arms radiating from its center. This has given it the name of the Starfish Cluster. With my
small refractor, I was getting the impression that it was more humanoid than starfish like. A
celestial ghost among the stars.
my location in Central Maryland to view – but not all of it. There is a wide northern extension of
the constellation that rides the milky way north just to the east of Canis Major culminating in the
well-known Open Clusters of M46 and M47 (also do not forget the Open Cluster M93 south of
them). In addition, there are many additional Puppis Open Clusters along this stretch of the
Milky Way worth visiting. Two local Parks provided me far better southern views of the sky than
from my backyard, which I sketched eight of the best of the northern non-Messier Puppis Open
Clusters on the evenings of March 2nd and March 3rd (NGC 2421, 2479, 2482, 2489, 2509,
2527, 2567 and 2571).
NGC 2482 is a relatively faint but rich Open Cluster. There was little problem seeing it in the
110mm refractor. A small triangle of bright stars rests northeast of it which helped pinpoint the
Open Cluster’s location. The brightest stars of NGC 2482 are around magnitude 10 but most
of the 40+ stars making up the cluster were near or below the resolution of the telescope. Their
combined glow looked ethereal in the eyepiece. In larger telescopes, NGC 2482 displays fat
star arms radiating from its center. This has given it the name of the Starfish Cluster. With my
small refractor, I was getting the impression that it was more humanoid than starfish like. A
celestial ghost among the stars.