NGC 361 is anopen cluster in theSmall Magellanic Cloud. It is located in the constellationTucana. It was discovered on September 6, 1826, byJames Dunlop. It was described byDreyer as "very very faint, pretty large, very little extended, very gradually brighter middle."[4] At an aperture of 31.0 arcseconds, its apparent V-band magnitude is 12.24, but at this wavelength, it has 0.40 magnitudes ofinterstellar extinction.[2]
NGC 361 is about 8.1 billion years old. Its estimated mass is2.15×105M☉, and its total luminosity is1.04×105L☉, leading to a mass-to-luminosity ratio of 2.07M☉/L☉.[2] All else equal, older star clusters have higher mass-to-luminosity ratios; that is, they have lower luminosities for the same mass.[2]
Media related toNGC 361 at Wikimedia Commons
