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NGC 2331 in Gemini
Date of Obs ..... February 3, 2021 |
NGC 2331 is an open cluster in central Gemini, just to the lower side
of the line from Castor to η Geminorum in his feet. It was
not too difficult to locate this object, and once there I noted it as
being a very sparse group, fully resolved with no granular haze as is
sometimes the case with faint clusters. What stood out to me in
the view at 76x was a small knot of stars off-center, although I found
it to be less prominent at 123x. The star-hop to NGC 2331 probably works best from τ Geminorum to a slightly less bright star west- southwest from it, then go south-southeast to a even less bright star that is part of a nice curve of three stars with the bowl of the curve pointing south; from the bowl of the curve go straight south about 3 times the width of the curve and you will be at the cluster. |