Deep-sky object
NGC 6231
NGC 6231 is an open cluster 5 600 light-years away, in Scorpius, about 24 light-years across, seen as it was 5 600 years ago.
A tight knot of hot young stars in the Scorpion's tail, the core of a much larger stellar association.
See it live
It is on the live 3D map, where it really is.
Key facts
- Type
- open cluster
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Distance
- 5 600 light-years
- Size
- about 24.0 light-years across
- Brightness from Earth
- magnitude 2.6
- Catalogue
- NGC 6231
See it from here
Bright enough to see with your own eyes from a dark place.
How the map draws it
Drawn as a soft glow in the manner of its kind at its measured distance, as wide as it measures; the pattern in it is illustrative and its true shape is not drawn — the kind of thing, not this exact one.