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A sphere of blue-white stars fills the scene. They are concentrated at image center and taper off as toward the image's edges. Orangish, yellowish, and pinkish stars dot the periphery.
Hubble · Caldwell 106 · NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration Acknowledgment: J. Mack (STScI) and G. Piotto (University of Padova, Italy)

47 Tuc Cluster

Star cluster in Tucana · 15,000 light-years

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TypeStar cluster
ConstellationTucana
Right ascension0h 24m 05s
Declination−72° 05′
Object distance15,000 light-years
Apparent magnitude4.1
Apparent size31.8′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter138.8 light-years across
Also known asC106 · NGC 104
Caldwell 106, popularly known as the 47 Tuc Cluster, is a star cluster (NGC 104) in Tucana — a family of stars bound by gravity. It appears as number 106 in the Caldwell catalogue, Sir Patrick Moore's 1995 list of 109 bright deep-sky objects for amateur astronomers. It spans roughly 31.8 arc-minutes on the sky. At about magnitude 4.1, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Although it appears about 31.8′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 138.8 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing 47 Tuc Cluster

47 Tuc Cluster lies in the constellation Tucana and is best placed in the evening sky around September. Its maximum altitude above the horizon depends on your latitude. It sits far enough south to be circumpolar from mid-southern latitudes, and never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. At its brightness it can be found with the unaided eye under a dark sky and is easy in binoculars.

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