NGC 2360

NGC 2360 is an open cluster in Canis Major.

Caroline Herschel discovered this cluster on February 26, 1783, and included it in her list as No. 2. This cluster was her first original discovery of a deepsky object. Her brother William included it in his catalog as H VII.12.

This attractive cluster is bright, large, rich, and moderately compressed with at least a hundred 10.5 to 13th magnitude stars visible in a 12' area. It has a total visual magnitude of 7.2. The western half is more star-rich and concentrated than the eastern half, in which are several conspicuous star-vacancies. To the south the cluster merges gradually into the Milky Way background, but on the north a long meandering star chain extends NE and then curves north.

NGC 2362 lies some 6150 light years away.