List of largest star clusters explained

Below is a list of the largest known star clusters, ordered by diameter in light years, above the size of 50 light years in diameter. This list includes globular clusters, open clusters, super star clusters, and other types.

List

List of largest known star clusters!Cluster name!Diameter (light-years)!Type of cluster!Notes

Terzan 7	316^[1]	Globular cluster
Messier 54	306^[2]
NGC 339	238^[3]
Messier 3	226^[4]
Messier 11 (Wild Duck Cluster)	190	Open cluster
Messier 2	174.4^[5]	Globular cluster
Omega Centauri	172 ± 12^[6]		Largest globular cluster in the Milky Way.^[7]
Messier 13	168^[8]
Messier 15	166^[9]
Palomar 5	152^[10]
Messier 75	126^[11]
47 Tucanae	120^[12]
Messier 68	106^[13]
Messier 22	100 ± 10^[14]		One of the first star clusters ever discovered.^[15]
Messier 14	100
Messier 62	98^[16]
Messier 55	96^[17]
NGC 265	94^[18]	Open cluster
Messier 69	90^[19]	Globular cluster
Messier 9	90^[20]
Messier 56	84^[21]
Messier 10	83.2^[22]
NGC 3201	80^[23]
Messier 107	79^[24]
Messier 46	75.6^[25]	Open cluster
Messier 4	75^[26]	Globular cluster	Nearest globular cluster to the Earth. Also the first globular cluster known to have exoplanets (PSR B1620-26b)
Messier 12	74.4^[27]
Messier 70	68^[28]
NGC 290	66^[29]	Open cluster
Messier 28	60^[30]	Globular cluster
Messier 18	52.4	Open cluster
The following notable star clusters are listed for the purpose of comparison.
MGC1	49 (half-light), 7,800 (tidal)^[31]	Globular cluster
Mayall II	(half-light), (tidal)^[32]
Pleiades	40.68^[33]	Open cluster	Nearest Messier Object to Earth and the easiest to see in the night sky.
RSGC2 (Stephenson 2)	26.1^[34]
Alpha Persei cluster	22.8^[35]
Jewel Box	20^[36]
Hyades	17.6		Nearest open cluster
Beehive Cluster (Praesepe)	15^[37]
RSGC1	9.78 ± 1.96^[38]
Westerlund 1 (Ara Cluster)	6.52^[39]	Super Star Cluster/Open cluster

See also

• List of most massive star clusters

Notes and References

1. Web site: Terzan 7 @ seds. 2024-02-13.
2. From trigonometry: radius = distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 153 ly.
3. Web site: Angular Size calculator . 9 May 2015 . 1728.org.
4. Brosche . P. . Odenkirchen . M. . Geffert . M. . March 1999 . Instantaneous and average tidal radii of globular clusters . New Astronomy . 4 . 2 . 133–139 . 1999NewA....4..133B . 10.1016/S1384-1076(99)00014-7.
5. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 87.3 ly. radius
6. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2), using distance of 5 kpc and angle 36.3′, = 86 ± 6 ly radius
7. Web site: Omega Centauri: The Largest Globular Cluster . 21 December 2014 . Universe for Facts.
8. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 84 ly radius
9. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 88 ly radius
10. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 76 ly. radius
11. From trigonometry: radius = distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 67 ly.
12. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 60 ly. radius
13. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 53 ly. radius
14. From trigonometry: radius = distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 50 ly
15. Monaco . L. . Pancino . E. . Ferraro . F. R. . Bellazzini . M. . 2004 . Wide-field photometry of the Galactic globular cluster M22 . . 349 . 4 . 1278–1290 . astro-ph/0401392 . 2004MNRAS.349.1278M . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07599.x . free . 18252633.
16. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 49 ly. radius
17. From trigonometry: radius = distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 17,600 × sin(19′/2) = 48.6 ly.
18. Nayak . P. K. . Subramaniam . A. . Choudhury . S. . Sagar . Ram . 1 . September 2018 . Star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. II. Age-dating, classification, and spatio-temporal distribution of the SMC clusters . Astronomy & Astrophysics . 616 . 24 . 1804.00635 . 2018A&A...616A.187N . 10.1051/0004-6361/201732227 . 55901741 . A187.
19. From trigonometry: distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 28,700 × 0.00157 = 45 ly. radius
20. Boyles . J. . Lorimer . D. R. . Turk . P. J. . Mnatsakanov . R. . Lynch . R. S. . Ransom . S. M. . Freire . P. C. . Belczynski . K. . 2011-11-20 . Young Radio Pulsars in Galactic Globular Clusters . The Astrophysical Journal . 742 . 1 . 51 . 10.1088/0004-637X/742/1/51 . 0004-637X. 1108.4402 . 2011ApJ...742...51B .
21. From trigonometry: radius = distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 32,900 × sin(8.8′/2) = 42.1 ly.
22. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 41.6 ly. radius
23. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 40 ly. radius
24. From trigonometry: distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 39.5 ly. radius
25. Piskunov . A. E. . Schilbach . E. . Kharchenko . N. V. . Röser . S. . Scholz . R.-D. . June 2007 . Towards absolute scales for the radii and masses of open clusters . Astronomy & Astrophysics . 468 . 1 . 151–161 . 10.1051/0004-6361:20077073 . 0004-6361. astro-ph/0702517 . 2007A&A...468..151P .
26. Web site: Plotner . Tammy . February 22, 2016 . Messier 4 (M4) – The NGC 6121 Globular Cluster . January 25, 2024 . Universe Today.
27. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 37.2 ly radius
28. distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 34 ly. radius
29. Web site: April 18, 2006 . Open Star Cluster NGC 290 . 2020-09-10 . ESA Science & Technology.
30. From trigonometry: radius = distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 30 ly
31. MacKey . A. D . Ferguson . A. M. N . Irwin . M. J . Martin . N. F . Huxor . A. P . Tanvir . N. R . Chapman . S. C . Ibata . R. A . Lewis . G. F . McConnachie . A. W . 2010 . Deep Gemini/GMOS imaging of an extremely isolated globular cluster in the Local Group . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 401 . 1 . 533–546 . 0909.1456 . 2010MNRAS.401..533M . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15678.x . free . 53377049.
32. Ma, J. . de Grijs, R. . Chen, D. . van den Bergh, S. . Fan, Z. . Wu, Z. . Wu, H. . Zhou, X. . Wu, J. . Jiang, Z. . Chen, J. . April 2007 . Structural parameters of Mayall II = G1 in M31 . . 376 . 4 . 1621–1629 . astro-ph/0702012 . 2007MNRAS.376.1621M . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11573.x . free . 3591548.
33. Danilov . Vladimir M. . Seleznev . Anton F. . October 2020 . On the Motion of Stars in the Pleiades according to Gaia DR2 Data . Astrophysical Bulletin . 75 . 4 . 407–424 . 10.1134/S1990341320040045 . 2012.15289 . 2020AstBu..75..407D . 1990-3413.
34. Davies . B. . Figer . D. F. . Kudritzki . R. P. . MacKenty . J. . Najarro . F. . Herrero . A. . 2007 . A Massive Cluster of Red Supergiants at the Base of the Scutum-Crux Arm . The Astrophysical Journal . 671 . 1 . 781–801 . 0708.0821 . 2007ApJ...671..781D . 10.1086/522224 . 1447781.
35. Lodieu . N. . Pérez-Garrido . A. . Smart . R. L. . Silvotti . R. . 2019-08-01 . A 5D view of the α Per, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters . Astronomy and Astrophysics . 628 . A66 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201935533 . 1906.03924 . 2019A&A...628A..66L . 0004-6361.
36. Web site: January 31, 2015 . Jewel Box Cluster . constellation-guide.com.
37. Web site: July 19, 2021 . The Beehive Cluster . January 22, 2024 . BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
38. Davies . B. . Figer . D. F. . Law . C. J. . Kudritzki . R. P. . Najarro . F. . Herrero . A. . MacKenty . J. W. . 2008 . The Cool Supergiant Population of the Massive Young Star Cluster RSGC1 . . 676 . 2 . 1016–1028 . 0711.4757 . 2008ApJ...676.1016D . 10.1086/527350 . 0004-637X . 15639297 . free.
39. Portegies Zwart . Simon F. . McMillan . Stephen L.W. . Gieles . Mark . 2010 . Young Massive Star Clusters . Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics . 48 . 431–493 . 1002.1961 . 2010ARA&A..48..431P . 10.1146/annurev-astro-081309-130834 . 119207843.