Astronomy:NGC 299
| NGC 299 | |
|---|---|
| File:NGC 299 - Potw1642a.tiff Hubble Space Telescope image of the cluster NGC 299 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Tucana |
| Right ascension | 00h 53m 24.74s[1] |
| Declination | −72° 11′ 47.6″[1] |
| Distance | 200 kly[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.73±0.12[1] |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 0.9' x 0.9'[3] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mass | 600±200[4] M☉ |
| Estimated age | 26+15 −9 Myr[4] |
| Other designations | ESO 051-SC 005.[5] |
NGC 299 is an open cluster of stars in the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud[6] – a nearby dwarf galaxy. It is located in the southern constellation of Tucana, just under 200,000 light years distant from the Sun.[2] The cluster was discovered on August 12, 1834, by English astronomer John Herschel.[7]
The cluster is around 25 million years old with 600 times the mass of the Sun. It spans a radius of 24 ly (7.3 pc). The metallicity of the cluster, what astronomers term the abundance of elements more massive than helium, is almost identical to that of the Sun.[4] The cluster is old enough that the stellar winds from the most massive members has dispersed all of the original dust and gas. Hence, star formation has come to a halt.[6] Two eclipsing binaries and one probable Be star have been identified, but the cluster is lacking any low-amplitude pulsating variables.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rafelski, Marc; Zaritsky, Dennis (June 2005). "The Star Clusters of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Age Distribution". The Astronomical Journal 129 (6): 2701–2713. doi:10.1086/424938. Bibcode: 2005AJ....129.2701R.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Toucan and the cluster". Hubble Space Telescope. https://spacetelescope.org/images/potw1642a/.
- ↑ "NGC 299". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=NGC+299.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Perren, G. I. et al. (June 2017). "Astrophysical properties of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds homogeneously estimated by ASteCA". Astronomy & Astrophysics 602: 42. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629520. A89. Bibcode: 2017A&A...602A..89P.
- ↑ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 0299. http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=NGC+299&extend=no&hconst=73&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sabbi, E.; Nota, A.; Sirianni, M.; Carlson, L. R.; Tosi, M.; Gallagher, J.; Meixner, M.; Oey, M. S. et al. (2007). "Star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud: the youngest star clusters". in Elmegreen, B. G.; Palous, J.. IAU Symposium #237, held 14–18 August 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 199–203. doi:10.1017/S1743921307001469. Bibcode: 2007IAUS..237..199S.
- ↑ "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 250 - 299". Cseligman. http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc2a.htm#299.
- ↑ Sanders, R. J. et al. (April 2013). "Photometric Analysis of Variable Stars in NGC 299". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars 6054: 1. Bibcode: 2013IBVS.6054....1S.
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