View source for Astronomy:List of largest known star clusters

{{Short description|List of largest known star clusters}}
[[File:Omega Centauri by ESO.jpg|thumb|Omega Centauri, one of the largest star clusters.]]
Below is a '''list of the largest known [[Astronomy:Star cluster|star cluster]]s''', ordered by diameter in [[Astronomy:Light-year|light years]], above the size of 50 light years in diameter. This list includes [[Astronomy:Globular cluster|globular clusters]], [[Astronomy:Open cluster|open clusters]], [[Astronomy:Super star cluster|super star clusters]], and other types.

== List ==
{{Incomplete list|date=December 2023}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+List of largest known star clusters
!Cluster Name
!Diameter (Light Years)
!Type of Cluster
!Notes
|-
|[[Astronomy:Terzan 7|Terzan 7]]
|320<ref name="seds">{{citation|title = Terzan 7 @ seds|url = http://www.seds.org/~spider/spider/MWGC/ter07.html|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20021024065203/http://www.seds.org/~spider/spider/MWGC/ter07.html|archivedate = 2002-10-24}}</ref>
| rowspan="4" |[[Astronomy:Globular cluster|Globular Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 54|Messier 54]]
|306<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 153 ly.</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:NGC 339|NGC 339]]
|238<ref name="angsize">{{cite web |title=Angular Size calculator |url=http://1728.org/angsize.htm |access-date=9 May 2015 |website=1728.org}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 3|Messier 3]]
|226<ref name="Brosche">{{cite journal |last1=Brosche |first1=P. |last2=Odenkirchen |first2=M. |last3=Geffert |first3=M. |date=March 1999 |title=Instantaneous and average tidal radii of globular clusters |journal=New Astronomy |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=133–139 |bibcode=1999NewA....4..133B |doi=10.1016/S1384-1076(99)00014-7}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Wild Duck Cluster|Messier 11]] (Wild Duck Cluster)
|190<ref name="Santos20052">{{citation |last1=Santos |first1=J. F. C. Jr. |title=Structure and stellar content analysis of the open cluster M 11 with 2MASS photometry |date=October 2005 |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume=442 |issue=1 |pages=201–209 |postscript=. |arxiv=astro-ph/0507216 |bibcode=2005A&A...442..201S |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20053378 |s2cid=15323948 |display-authors=1 |last2=Bonatto |first2=C. |last3=Bica |first3=E.}}</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 2|Messier 2]]
|174.4<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 87.3 ly. radius</ref>
| rowspan="12" |[[Astronomy:Globular cluster|Globular Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Omega Centauri|Omega Centauri]]
|172 ± 12<ref>distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2), using distance of 5 kpc and angle 36.3′<!-- where is this sourced? -->, = 86 ± 6 ly radius<!-- ±6 ly is from min to max distances from 2006 paper: 4.5 to 5.2kpc --></ref>
|Largest [[Astronomy:Globular cluster|globular cluster]] in the [[Astronomy:Milky Way|Milky Way]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Omega Centauri: The Largest Globular Cluster |url=http://www.universeforfacts.com/2013/11/omega-centauri-largest-globular-cluster.html |access-date=21 December 2014 |website=Universe for Facts}}</ref>
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 13|Messier 13]]
|168<ref>distance × sin(diameter_angle / 2) = 84 ly radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 15|Messier 15]]
|166<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 88 ly radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Palomar 5|Palomar 5]]
|152<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 76 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 75|Messier 75]]
|126<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 67 ly.</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:47 Tucanae|47 Tucanae]]
|120<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 60 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 68|Messier 68]]
|106<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 53 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 22|Messier 22]]
|100 ± 10<ref name=":0">From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 50 ly</ref>
|One of the first star clusters ever discovered.<ref name="Monacoetal2004">{{cite journal |last1=Monaco |first1=L. |last2=Pancino |first2=E. |last3=Ferraro |first3=F. R. |last4=Bellazzini |first4=M. |date=2004 |title=Wide-field photometry of the Galactic globular cluster M22 |journal=[[Organization:Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |volume=349 |issue=4 |pages=1278–1290 |arxiv=astro-ph/0401392 |bibcode=2004MNRAS.349.1278M |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07599.x |s2cid=18252633}}</ref>
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 14|Messier 14]]
|100<ref name=":0" />
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 62|Messier 62]]
|98<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 49 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 55|Messier 55]]
|96<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 17,600 × sin(19′/2) = 48.6 ly.</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:NGC 265|NGC 265]]
|94<ref name="Nayak2018">{{cite journal |last1=Nayak |first1=P. K. |last2=Subramaniam |first2=A. |last3=Choudhury |first3=S. |last4=Sagar |first4=Ram |display-authors=1 |date=September 2018 |title=Star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. II. Age-dating, classification, and spatio-temporal distribution of the SMC clusters |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |volume=616 |pages=24 |arxiv=1804.00635 |bibcode=2018A&A...616A.187N |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201732227 |s2cid=55901741 |id=A187}}</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 69|Messier 69]]
|90<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 28,700 × 0.00157 = 45 ly. radius</ref>
| rowspan="6" |[[Astronomy:Globular cluster|Globular Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 9|Messier 9]]
|90<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Boyles |first1=J. |last2=Lorimer |first2=D. R. |last3=Turk |first3=P. J. |last4=Mnatsakanov |first4=R. |last5=Lynch |first5=R. S. |last6=Ransom |first6=S. M. |last7=Freire |first7=P. C. |last8=Belczynski |first8=K. |date=2011-11-20 |title=Young Radio Pulsars in Galactic Globular Clusters |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/742/1/51 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=742 |issue=1 |pages=51 |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/742/1/51 |issn=0004-637X|arxiv=1108.4402 |bibcode=2011ApJ...742...51B }}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 56|Messier 56]]
|84<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 32,900 × sin(8.8′/2) = 42.1 ly.</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 10|Messier 10]]
|83.2<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 41.6 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:NGC 3201|NGC 3201]]
|80<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 40 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 107|Messier 107]]
|79<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 39.5 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 46|Messier 46]]
|75.6<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Piskunov |first1=A. E. |last2=Schilbach |first2=E. |last3=Kharchenko |first3=N. V. |last4=Röser |first4=S. |last5=Scholz |first5=R.-D. |date=June 2007 |title=Towards absolute scales for the radii and masses of open clusters |url=http://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20077073 |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |volume=468 |issue=1 |pages=151–161 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20077073 |issn=0004-6361|arxiv=astro-ph/0702517 |bibcode=2007A&A...468..151P }}</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 4|Messier 4]]
|75<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plotner |first=Tammy |date=February 22, 2016 |title=Messier 4 (M4) – The NGC 6121 Globular Cluster |url=https://www.universetoday.com/31147/messier-4/ |access-date=January 25, 2024 |website=Universe Today}}</ref>
| rowspan="3" |[[Astronomy:Globular cluster|Globular Cluster]]
|Nearest globular cluster to the Earth. Also the first globular cluster known to have exoplanets ([[Astronomy:PSR B1620−26 b|PSR B1620-26b]])
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 12|Messier 12]]
|74.4<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 37.2 ly radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 70|Messier 70]]
|68<ref>distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 34 ly. radius</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:NGC 290|NGC 290]]
|66<ref name="ESA2">{{cite web |date=April 18, 2006 |title=Open Star Cluster NGC 290 |url=https://sci.esa.int/web/hubble/-/39110-open-star-cluster-ngc-290 |access-date=2020-09-10 |website=ESA Science & Technology}}</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 28|Messier 28]]
|60<ref>From [[Trigonometry|trigonometry]]: radius = distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 30 ly</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Globular cluster|Globular Cluster]]
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Messier 18|Messier 18]]
|52.4<ref name="Joshi2016">{{citation |last1=Joshi |first1=Y. C. |title=Study of open clusters within 1.8 kpc and understanding the Galactic structure |date=October 2016 |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |volume=593 |pages=13 |postscript=. |arxiv=1606.06425 |bibcode=2016A&A...593A.116J |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201628944 |s2cid=118610932 |id=A116 |display-authors=1 |last2=Dambis |first2=A. K. |last3=Pandey |first3=A. K. |last4=Joshi |first4=S.}}</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|
|-
! colspan="4" | The following notable star clusters are listed for the purpose of comparison.
|-
|[[Astronomy:MGC1|MGC1]]
|49 (half-light), 7,800 (tidal)<ref name="Mackey">{{cite journal |last1=MacKey |first1=A. D |last2=Ferguson |first2=A. M. N |last3=Irwin |first3=M. J |last4=Martin |first4=N. F |last5=Huxor |first5=A. P |last6=Tanvir |first6=N. R |last7=Chapman |first7=S. C |last8=Ibata |first8=R. A |last9=Lewis |first9=G. F |last10=McConnachie |first10=A. W |year=2010 |title=Deep Gemini/GMOS imaging of an extremely isolated globular cluster in the Local Group |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=401 |issue=1 |pages=533–546 |arxiv=0909.1456 |bibcode=2010MNRAS.401..533M |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15678.x |s2cid=53377049}}</ref>
|
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Mayall II|Mayall II]]
|{{val|42|1}} (half-light), {{val|526|25.4}} (tidal)<ref name="Maetal2007">{{cite journal |author1=Ma, J. |author2=de Grijs, R. |author3=Chen, D. |author4=van den Bergh, S. |author5=Fan, Z. |author6=Wu, Z. |author7=Wu, H. |author8=Zhou, X. |author9=Wu, J. |author10=Jiang, Z. |author11=Chen, J. |date=April 2007 |title=Structural parameters of Mayall II = G1 in M31 |journal=[[Organization:Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |volume=376 |issue=4 |pages=1621–1629 |arxiv=astro-ph/0702012 |bibcode=2007MNRAS.376.1621M |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11573.x |s2cid=3591548}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Pleiades|Pleiades]]
|40.68<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Danilov |first1=Vladimir M. |last2=Seleznev |first2=Anton F. |date=October 2020 |title=On the Motion of Stars in the Pleiades according to Gaia DR2 Data |journal=Astrophysical Bulletin |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=407–424 |doi=10.1134/S1990341320040045 |arxiv=2012.15289 |bibcode=2020AstBu..75..407D |issn=1990-3413}}</ref>
| rowspan="7" |[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|Nearest [[Astronomy:Messier object|Messier Object]] to Earth and the easiest to see in the night sky.
|-
|[[Astronomy:Stephenson 2|RSGC2]] (''Stephenson 2'')
|26.1<ref name="Davies2007">{{Cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=B. |last2=Figer |first2=D. F. |last3=Kudritzki |first3=R. P. |last4=MacKenty |first4=J. |last5=Najarro |first5=F. |last6=Herrero |first6=A. |year=2007 |title=A Massive Cluster of Red Supergiants at the Base of the Scutum-Crux Arm |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=671 |issue=1 |pages=781–801 |arxiv=0708.0821 |bibcode=2007ApJ...671..781D |doi=10.1086/522224 |s2cid=1447781}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Alpha Persei Cluster|Alpha Persei cluster]]
|22.8<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lodieu |first1=N. |last2=Pérez-Garrido |first2=A. |last3=Smart |first3=R. L. |last4=Silvotti |first4=R. |date=2019-08-01 |title=A 5D view of the α Per, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019A&A...628A..66L |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume=628 |pages=A66 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201935533 |arxiv=1906.03924 |bibcode=2019A&A...628A..66L |issn=0004-6361}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Jewel Box (star cluster)|Jewel Box]]
|20<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2015 |title=Jewel Box Cluster |url=https://www.constellation-guide.com/jewel-box-cluster/ |website=constellation-guide.com}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Hyades (star cluster)|Hyades]]
|17.6<ref>{{Citation |last1=Perryman |first1=M. A. C. |title=The Hyades: distance, structure, dynamics, and age |year=1998 |last2=Brown |first2=A. G. A. |last3=Lebreton |first3=Y. |last4=Gomez |first4=A. |last5=Turon |first5=C. |last6=de Strobel |first6=G. Cayrel |last7=Mermilliod |first7=J. C. |last8=Robichon |first8=N. |last9=Kovalevsky |first9=J.|journal=Astron.astrophys. |volume=331 |page=81 |arxiv=astro-ph/9707253 |bibcode=1998A&A...331...81P }}</ref>
|Nearest open cluster
|-
|[[Astronomy:Beehive Cluster|Beehive Cluster]] (Praesepe)
|15<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 19, 2021 |title=The Beehive Cluster |url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/stars/star-clusters/beehive-cluster |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=BBC Sky at Night Magazine}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:RSGC1|RSGC1]]
|9.78 ± 1.96<ref name="Davies2008">{{Cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=B. |last2=Figer |first2=D. F. |last3=Law |first3=C. J. |last4=Kudritzki |first4=R. P. |last5=Najarro |first5=F. |last6=Herrero |first6=A. |last7=MacKenty |first7=J. W. |year=2008 |title=The Cool Supergiant Population of the Massive Young Star Cluster RSGC1 |journal=[[Astronomy:The Astrophysical Journal|The Astrophysical Journal]] |volume=676 |issue=2 |pages=1016–1028 |arxiv=0711.4757 |bibcode=2008ApJ...676.1016D |doi=10.1086/527350 |issn=0004-637X |s2cid=15639297 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Astronomy:Westerlund 1|Westerlund 1]] (Ara Cluster)
|6.52<ref name="zwart">{{cite journal |last1=Portegies Zwart |first1=Simon F. |last2=McMillan |first2=Stephen L.W. |last3=Gieles |first3=Mark |year=2010 |title=Young Massive Star Clusters |journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume=48 |pages=431–493 |arxiv=1002.1961 |bibcode=2010ARA&A..48..431P |doi=10.1146/annurev-astro-081309-130834 |s2cid=119207843}}</ref>
|[[Astronomy:Super star cluster|Super Star Cluster]]/[[Astronomy:Open cluster|Open Cluster]]
|
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Stellar system}}

[[Category:Star clusters]]
[[Category:Lists of stars|Largest]]
[[Category:Lists of superlatives in astronomy|Largest star clusters]]

{{Sourceattribution|List of largest known star clusters}}