NGC 1662 (also Lund 141, Cr 55, OCL 470) is a magnitude +7.0 open cluster located 1425 light years away in the constellation Orion. It is located within the Orion Arm in the northern part of Orion's Shield, just to the northwest of the star Pi1 Orionis, and is easily visible with 10x50 binoculars as a small group of stars of magnitude 8 and 9. With a telescope of 80mm aperture a dozen more stars to magnitude 11 can be resolved, with many of the fainter stars concentrated around the brightest star, an orange giant of magnitude 8.33. The cluster is estimated to have an age of around 420 million years, similar to the Hyades cluster; among the confirmed members there are 15 stars of spectral type B, 8 Class A and three Class F. Using very high magnifications with larger diameter telescopes will not allow you to appreciate all of the dispersed cluster. The declination of the cluster is not far from the celestial equator and slightly favours observers in the northern hemisphere, although from the southern hemisphere, observation is penalised only from regions located in high southern latitudes. The best time to observe is in the evening sky between October and March.
The cluster was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) reflecting telescope at Datchet, Berkshire, on the 18th January 1784.
Right Ascension 04h 48m 27.0s, Declination +10° 55' 48"
