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Show the direction and distance to this star cluster on the Galactic Map.

Proper Name	Broken Heart Cluster
Messier Number	None
NGC/IC Number	NGC 2281
Other Designations	HR 2496
Constellation	Auriga
Right Ascension	6h 48m 17s
Declination	+41° 4' 42"
Distance	c. 1,800 light years c. 500 parsecs
Magnitude	Apparent: +5.4 Absolute: -3.33
Diameter	Apparent: 25' Actual: 13 light years
Number of Stars	c. 1,100
Optimum Visibility	January
Notes	The Broken Heart Cluster, NGC 2281, is one of numerous similar clusters strung along the Milky Way in Auriga. This is a faint and scattered open cluster, with halo of less prominent stars surrounding a central group of brighter members, mainly of the white A-type spectral class.

In the vicinity of the star Psi⁷ Aurigae lies this sparse open cluster, on the verge of naked eye visibility. It is an ancient group of stars a little less than 1,800 light years from the Solar System.

NGC 2281 is on the edge of the band of the Milky Way, in the eastern parts of the constellation of Auriga. It falls to the approximate southeast of Menkalinan on the Charioteer's shoulder, in the direction of Castor and Pollux in Gemini.

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