NGC 6709

NGC 6709
NGC 6709 imaged in 2026
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Right ascension18h 51m 20.6s
Declination+10° 20′ 02″
Distance3,510 ly (1,075 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)6.7
Apparent dimensions (V)13'
Physical characteristics
Radius26 ly (tidal)
Estimated age141 Myr
Other designationsNGC 6709, Cr 392
Associations
ConstellationAquila
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

NGC 6709 is an open cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Aquila, some 5° to the southwest of the star Zeta Aquilae. It is situated toward the center of the galaxy at a distance of 3,510 light-years.

This cluster has a Trumpler class of IV 2 m, and is considered moderately rich with 305 member stars. It is around 141 million years old; about the same as the Pleiades. The core radius of NGC 6709 is 2.2 ly (0.68 pc) and the tidal radius 26.4 ly (8.08 pc). It contains two Be stars and one of them is a shell star. There is one candidate red giant member.

On the evening of November 13, 1984, David H. Levy discovered his first comet less than a degree from this cluster.

References

  1. 1 2 Cantat-Gaudin, T.; Anders, F. (January 2020). "Clusters and mirages: cataloguing stellar aggregates in the Milky Way". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 633: 22. arXiv:1911.07075. Bibcode:2020A&A...633A..99C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936691. S2CID 208138247. A99.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dib, Sami; et al. (January 2018). "Structure and mass segregation in Galactic stellar clusters". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 473 (1): 849–859. arXiv:1707.00744. Bibcode:2018MNRAS.473..849D. doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2413.
  3. ↑ "NGC 6709". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  4. ↑ Crossen, Craig; Rhemann, Gerald (2012). Sky Vistas: Astronomy for Binoculars and Richest-Field Telescopes. Springer Vienna. p. 58. ISBN 9783709106266.
  5. 1 2 3 Subramaniam, Annapurni; Sagar, Ram (February 1999). "Multicolor CCD Photometry and Stellar Evolutionary Analysis of NGC 1907, NGC 1912, NGC 2383, NGC 2384, and NGC 6709 Using Synthetic Color-Magnitude Diagrams". The Astronomical Journal. 117 (2): 937–961. Bibcode:1999AJ....117..937S. doi:10.1086/300716. S2CID 34294008.
  6. 1 2 Cole-Kodikara, Elizabeth M.; et al. (March 2021). NGC 6709: A Faint Zero-Age Main Sequence Open Cluster. The 20.5th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun (CS20.5), virtually anywhere, March 2–4, 2021. Bibcode:2021csss.confE.175C. doi:10.5281/zenodo.4565515. 175.
  7. ↑ Levy, David H. (2003). David Levy's Guide to Observing and Discovering Comets. Cambridge University Press. p. 52.