In 1931, Swedish astronomer Per Collinder (1890 - 1974, born in Sundsvall, Sweden),
created a catalog of the known galactic open star clusters as part of his graduate student thesis:
“On structural properties of open galactic clusters and their spatial distribution”.
His list contains 471 entries, of which a large number are already cataloged Messier and NGC objects.
Most, of his work was based on using photographic plates taken from a variety of observatories,and Collinder actually observed very few of the objects himself.
This graduate survey work of Collinder’s appears to be the highlight of his astronomical career, as he is more noted for his work in navigation.
class Plei = Pleiades (M45)
class Praes = Prasepe (M44)
class u Norm = mu Normae (NGC6169)
class Glob = resembles a globular cluster
class Chain = resembles a asterism
class Neb = resembles a nebula or contains a nebula.
On the left side of the webpage is my personal observation list of the
'Collinder catalog of star clusters'.
I currently have observed all of the possible 348 objects visible from my Pittsburgh, PA latitude of around +40.
(123 of the 'Cr' objects are not observable from my location).
Hope you enjoyed the visit. Come again soon!
Larry McHenry, Pittsburgh, PA. USA
Astronomical Webportal: