| NGC 376 | |
|---|---|
 Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 376 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Right ascension | 01h 03m 50.21s [1] |
| Declination | −72° 49′ 33.5″ [1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.90 [1] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mass | 3,400±400 [2] M☉ |
| Estimated age | 28±7 [3] Myr |
| Other designations | ESO 029-SC 029. [4] |
| Associations | |
| Constellation | Tucana |
NGC 376 is a young [2] open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Tucana. It was discovered on September 2, 1826, by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. Dreyer, a Danish/British astronomer, described it as a "globular cluster, bright, small, round." [5] It is irregular in form, with a central spike. [2]
The cluster is located in the eastern extension of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a nearby dwarf galaxy. It may have already lost 90% of its original mass and is in the process of dissolving into the SMC. As a result, it has achieved a relatively low concentration of stars and is no longer in dynamic equilibrium. The cluster is about 28 [3] million years old and contains ~3,400 times the mass of the Sun. [2] It has a core radius of 7.6 ± 0.3 ly and a tidal radius of 19.2 ± 0.7 ly. [3]
