NGC 2420 (OCL 488) is a magnitude +8.3 open cluster located 8600 light-years away in the constellation Gemini.
The cluster can be found towards the east of Delta Geminorum using 7 x 50 binoculars. The cluster lies about 3,000 light-years above the galactic disk. The average composition is similar to that of the Sun, and may have been displaced from the galactic disk due to an interaction with a massive object. The estimated age of the cluster is 1.7 billion years old. NGC 2420 has more than 300 stars, contained within a diameter of approximately 30 light-years. The cluster contains a large number of binary stars, with a surprisingly high twin ratio, ie systems in which both components have a similar mass. The brightest star is of visual magnitude +11.0.
The open cluster was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) f/13 speculum reflector at Datchet, Berkshire, on the 19th November 1783.
Right Ascension 07h 38m 23.8s, Declination +21° 34' 27"
Title: GALEX Ultraviolet photometry of NGC 2420: searching for WDs Authors: C. De Martino, L. Bianchi, I. Pagano, J. Herald, D. Thilker
We present colour-magnitude diagrams of the open cluster NGC 2420, obtained from Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) ultraviolet images in FUV and NUV bands and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) u,g,r,i,z photometry. Our goal is to search for and characterize hot evolved stars and peculiar objects in this open cluster, as part of a larger project aimed to study a number of open clusters in the Milky Way with GALEX and ground-based data.