NGC 330

NGC 330
The star cluster NGC 330
Credit: Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Right ascension00h 56m 17.6s[1]
Declination−72° 27′ 47″[1]
Distance182000[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)9.60[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)2.8′ × 2.5′[3]
Physical characteristics
Mass5.4×104[2] M☉
Estimated age0.09±0.05 Gyr[2]
Other designationsESO 029-SC 024.[1]
Associations
ConstellationTucana
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

NGC 330 is an open cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is located in the constellation Tucana. It was discovered on 1 August 1826 by James Dunlop. It was described by Dreyer as "a globular cluster, very bright, small, a little extended, stars from 13th to 15th magnitude."[4] At an aperture of 31.0 arcseconds, the apparent V-band magnitude is 9.60, but at this wavelength, it also has 0.36 magnitudes of interstellar extinction.[2]

NGC 330 is quite young, at about 40 million years old, and has a large proportion of Be stars.[5] Its estimated mass is 5.4×104 M☉, and its total luminosity is 8.93×105 L☉, leading to a mass-to-luminosity ratio of 0.06 M☉/L☉.[2] All else equal, older star clusters have higher mass-to-luminosity ratios; that is, they have lower luminosities for the same mass.[2] About 34% of the massive star population in NGC 330 is estimated to be in a close binary star system; this is lower than clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Milky Way, but it is unknown if this is because NGC 330 is metal-poor or is older than the compared clusters.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 0330. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Song, Ying-Yi; Mateo, Mario; Bailey, John I.; Walker, Matthew G.; Roederer, Ian U.; Olszewski, Edward W.; Reiter, Megan; Kremin, Anthony (2021). "Dynamical masses and mass-to-light ratios of resolved massive star clusters – II. Results for 26 star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 504 (3): 4160–4191. arXiv:2104.06882. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1065.
  3. ^ "NGC 330". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  4. ^ "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 300 - 349". Cseligman. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Bodensteiner, J.; Sana, H.; Wang, C.; Langer, N.; Mahy, L.; Banyard, G.; de Koter, A.; de Mink, S. E.; Evans, C. J.; Götberg, Y.; Patrick, L. R.; Schneider, F. R. N.; Tramper, F. (2021). "The young massive SMC cluster NGC 330 seen by MUSE. II. Multiplicity properties of the massive-star population". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 652: 18. arXiv:2104.13409. Bibcode:2021A&A...652A..70B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140507. S2CID 207852580. A70.
  • Media related to NGC 330 at Wikimedia Commons


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