openCluster Stephenson 2

E459137

Stephenson 2 is a massive, heavily reddened open star cluster rich in red supergiants, located in the direction of the constellation Scutum.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Stephenson 2 0

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf astronomical object
open star cluster
stellar cluster
belongsTo Galactic disk
discoveredBy Charles Bruce Stephenson NERFINISHED
hasAge about 17 million years
hasAgeRange 10–20 million years
hasAlternativeName RSGC2 NERFINISHED
Red Supergiant Cluster 2 NERFINISHED
hasApparentMagnitude about 14 (V band, integrated; heavily reddened)
hasClusterRadius a few parsecs
hasClusterType young massive open cluster
hasCoreRadius about 1 parsec (order of magnitude)
hasDeclination −06° (approximate, J2000)
hasDiscoveryMethod infrared survey identification
hasDistanceFromEarth about 19,500 light-years
about 6 kiloparsecs
hasDominantStellarType B-type main-sequence progenitors (earlier evolutionary stage)
red supergiant stars
hasEstimatedInitialMassOfRedSupergiants about 10–20 solar masses
hasEstimatedMass several 10^4 solar masses
hasGalacticLatitude about 0 degrees
hasGalacticLongitude about 26 degrees
hasHighInterstellarExtinction true
hasMetallicity approximately solar or slightly supersolar (inner Galaxy environment)
hasNumberOfRedSupergiants more than 20
one of the largest known concentrations of red supergiants in the Milky Way
hasRedSupergiantSpectralTypes K–M supergiants
hasRightAscension 18h 39m (approximate, J2000)
hasScientificInterest benchmark for red supergiant cluster population in the Milky Way
hasSpectralStudiesIn near-infrared spectroscopy
hasStellarPopulationType young massive stars
isBestObservedIn infrared wavelengths
isDifficultToObserveInVisible true
isHeavilyReddened true
isMassiveCluster true
isPartOf group of red supergiant clusters near Scutum
isRichIn red supergiants
isSimilarTo RSGC1 NERFINISHED
RSGC3 NERFINISHED
isUsedToStudy late stages of massive star evolution
massive cluster formation in the inner Milky Way
red supergiant properties
liesIn Milky Way galaxy NERFINISHED
Scutum–Crux arm region NERFINISHED
inner Galaxy
locatedInConstellation Scutum NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Scutum contains openCluster Stephenson 2