Astronomy Picture of the Day · December 23, 2008

Collinder 399: The Coat Hanger

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 23, 2008 is “Collinder 399: The Coat Hanger,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit & Copyright: Processing – Noel Carboni , Imaging – Greg Parker, New Forest Observatory). The original explanation runs about 148 words.

From the explanation

“Is this coat hanger a star cluster or an asterism? This cosmic hang-up has been debated over much of last century, as astronomers wondered whether this binocular-visible object is really a physically associated open cluster or a chance projection.”

— APOD editors, December 23, 2008

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: December 23, 2008
Type: Image
Credit: Credit & Copyright: Processing – Noel Carboni , Imaging – Greg Parker, New Forest Observatory
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 148 words

All of December 2008 → · 2008 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Star clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 23 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, December 23, 2008 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2008-december-23-collinder-399-the-coat-hanger

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.