Brocchi's Cluster (also known as Collinder 399, Cr 399 or Al Sufi's Cluster) is an asterism of 10 stars. Six of the stars appear in a row, across 1.3° of the night sky. The cluster is in the south of the constellation Vulpecula, near the border with Sagitta. Its nickname is the Coathanger. None of these ten stars are believed to be gravitationally bound to each other, thus they are not a star cluster, a fact established by measurements taken by the Hipparcos satellite in 1997. An additional 30 or so much fainter stars are considered by some to be part of the asterism.

History

It was first described by the Persian astronomer Al Sufi in his Book of Fixed Stars in 964.

In the 17th century, it was independently rediscovered by the Italian astronomer G. B. Hodierna.

In the 1920s, Dalmero Francis Brocchi, an amateur astronomer and chart maker for the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), created a map of the stars for use in calibrating photometers.

In 1931, Swedish astronomer Per Collinder listed it in his catalogue of open clusters.

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NGC 6802

The "rail" of the coathanger leads, east, into an open star cluster of dozens of much more distant stars, likely mostly a true cluster (being gravitationally tied or associated). Measurements put them initially at about 4,580 light years away however the same authors have refined their view and state they are a further 4,420 light years away, in a report which invokes Early Gaia Data Release 3, and 6th "internal" Gaia-ESO survey measurements.

References

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  • Cragin, Murray; Lucyk, James; & Rappaport, Barry (1993). The Deep Sky Field Guide to Uranometria 2000.0 (1st ed). Richmond, VA: Willmann-Bell.
  • Dias, W.S.; Lépine, J.R.D.; & Alessi, B.S. (2001). "Proper motions of open clusters within 1 kpc based on the TYCHO2 Catalogue". Astronomy and Astrophysics 376, 441-447
  • Hall, D.S. & VanLandingham, F.G. (1970). "The Nearby Poor Cluster Collinder 399". Pub. of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 82 (487), p.&nbsp;640-652
  • Skiff, Brian (January, 1998). "Brocchi's Cluster Revealed". Sky and Telescope, p.&nbsp;65-67
  • Brocchi's Cluster, Collinder 399 - SEDS
  • Collinder 399: The Coat Hanger - LRGB CCD image