NGC 2516 is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Carina. Alternatively, it is called Southern Beehive or the Sprinter,Imaging the Southern Sky : An Amateur Astronomer's Guide Chadwick, S., Cooper, I., pg.viii, Pub. Springer (2012) and is catalogued as Caldwell 96. This formation was discovered by French astronomer Abbe Lacaille in 1751-1752.
Description This bright cluster itself is easily visible with the naked eye as a hazy patch, but is resolvable into stars using binoculars. It contains two 5th magnitude red giant stars and three main visual double stars: HJ 4027, HJ 4031 and I 29. A small telescope would be required to split the double stars, which are all pairs of 8-9 magnitude and 1-10 arcseconds separation.
NGC 2516 and the recently discovered nearby star cluster Mamajek 2 in Ophiuchus have similar age and metallicity. Recently, kinematic evidence was presented by E. Jilinski and coauthors that suggests that these two stellar groups may have formed in the same star-forming complex some 135 million years ago.
The cluster is surrounded by the 500-parsec diameter halo consisting of stars ejected from cluster.
References
Bibliography
Burnham, Robert. Burnham's Celestial Handbook. Dover, 1978. .
External links
SEDS – NGC 2516