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NGC 2204 is an open cluster of stars in the Canis Majorconstellation. It was discovered by the German-English astronomer William Herschel on 6 February 1785. The cluster has an integrated visual magnitude of 8.6 and spans a diameter of 10.0′. Resolving the individual member stars is a challenge with a 10 to 12-inch amateur telescope. It is located at a distance of approximately 13,400 light years from the Sun. The cluster shows a mean radial velocity of +91.38±0.30 km/s relative to the Sun, and is orbiting the inner galactic disk region about 1 kpc below the galactic plane.
This is a rich but diffuse cluster with a Trumpler class of III 3m, spanning a physical diameter of about 55 ly (17 pc). It is an older cluster with an estimated age of 2.0±0.3 billion years. The metallicity is correspondingly poor, showing an abundance of iron about 59% of that in the Sun. There is a prominent giant branch clump on the HR diagram. The cluster has a significant population of blue stragglers, an indicator of past stellar mergers. It has a pair of candidate chemically peculiar stars, and five variable stars have been discovered, including four eclipsing variables.
Mermilliod, J. -C.; Mayor, M. (August 2007). "Red giants in open clusters. XII. Six old open clusters NGC 2112, 2204, 2243, 2420, 2506, 2682". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 470 (3): 919–926. Bibcode:2007A&A...470..919M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077198.
^ Rozyczka, M.; et al. (December 2007). "Variable Stars in the Field of the Open Cluster NGC2204". Acta Astronomica. 57: 323–329. arXiv:0803.1045. Bibcode:2007AcA....57..323R.
Frogel, J. A.; Twarog, B. A. (November 1983). "Faint stellar photometry in clusters. I. NGC 2204 and E3". Astrophysical Journal. 274: 270–285. Bibcode:1983ApJ...274..270F. doi:10.1086/161445.
NGC 2204, Digitized Sky Survey
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