NGC 265

NGC 265
A Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of NGC 265.
Credit: HST/NASA/ESA.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Right ascension00h 47m 35.8s[1]
Declination−73° 45′ 11″[1]
Distance200 kly[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)0.6′[3]
Physical characteristics
Mass4,200±900[3] M☉
Radius47 ly (14.5 pc)[3]
Estimated age250±120 Myr[4]
Other designationsCl Lindsay 34, ESO 29-14, SMC−OGLE 39[5]
Associations
ConstellationTucana
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

NGC 265 is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Tucana. It is located in the Small Magellanic Cloud,[4] a nearby dwarf galaxy. The cluster was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on April 11, 1834. J. L. E. Dreyer described it as, "faint, pretty small, round", and added it as the 265th entry in his New General Catalogue.[6]

This cluster has an angular core radius of 18″ and a physical radius of approximately 47 ly.[3] It has a combined 4,200[3] times the mass of the Sun and is around 250 million years old.[4] The metallicity of the cluster – what astronomers term the abundance of elements with higher atomic number than helium – is at around −0.62, or only 24% of that in the Sun. The turn-off mass for the cluster, when a star of that mass begins to evolve off the main sequence into a giant, is about 4.0 to 4.5 M☉.[7]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Sulentic1973 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference spacetelescope was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Nayak2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Piatti2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference simbad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Seligman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chiosi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).