Ruprecht 147

Ruprecht 147 or NGC 6774 is a dispersed star cluster in the Milky Way galaxy. It is about 1,000 light years away, which is close to Earth in comparison with other such clusters. In late summer, it can be seen with binoculars in the constellation of Sagittarius. The stars, bound by gravity, are about 2 billion years old. The cluster, discovered in 1830 by John Herschel, was long thought to be an asterism (a random collection of stars) and remained underappreciated until 2012, when it was identified as a potentially important reference gauge for astrophysics research, particularly the research of Sun-like stars.^[1]

References

1. "Nearby star cluster, long forgotten, now discovered to be useful in studies of Sun and search for planets like Earth". Phys.org. 23 June 2012.

Coordinates: 19^h 16^m 18^s, −16° 19′ 30″