NGC 1252 is a metal-poor, possibleopen cluster or open cluster remnant located in the constellationHorologium, containing around 20 stars. Discovered in 1834 byJohn Herschel, it was described byJohn Louis Emil Dreyer as an 8th-magnitude star surrounded by a group of 18 or 20 stars. StarsTW Horologii andHD 20286 were once considered to be part of NGC 1252, but this is now not likely.[1]
Due to the nature of the object, it has been given different classifications: according to Bouchet & Thé (1983), it is an open cluster at around 500 million years old located 470 parsecs (1,500 ly) away, with a diameter of 8 parsecs (26 ly),[5] while Baumgardt (1998) found it to be anasterism.[8] Pavani, Bica, and Dutraet al. (2001) put the age at 3 billion years old and distance at 1,000 parsecs (3,300 ly).[6] It is also approximately 900 parsecs (2,900 ly) below thegalactic disc.[1]
