Collinder 140
Open cluster in the constellation Canis Major
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Collinder 140 is a nearby open cluster of stars in the constellation Canis Major. It was first catalogued in 1751 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who described it as a "nebulous star cluster". It was catalogued again by the Swedish astronomer Per Collinder in 1931.[5] Fitzgerald et al. (1980) describe it as "a young extended cluster" and note that it is not obviously a cluster and may instead be a mere grouping of stars that formed together.[4]
| Observation data (J2000.0 epoch) | |
|---|---|
| Right ascension | 07h 24m 53s[1] |
| Declination | −31° 52′ 23″[1] |
| Distance | 1,226 ly (376 pc)[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 3.5[3] |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 60′[1] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Estimated age | 20 million years[4] |
| Other designations | Cr 140 |
| Associations | |
| Constellation | Canis Major |
Based on the combined parallax measurements of nine cluster members, this cluster has an estimated parallax of 2.66 ± 0.13 mas, which is equivalent to a distance modulus of 7.88 ± 0.11,[2] or a distance of 1,226 light-years (376 pc). The cluster has a density of 0.21 solar masses per cubic parsec; roughly double the density of stars near the Sun. It is about 20 million years old,[4] and may have been created from the same interstellar cloud that formed NGC 2516 and NGC 2547.[6]