NGC 2232



NGC 2232 is a bright open star cluster in the equatorial constellation of Monoceros, centered on the star 10 Monocerotis. It is located in the Gould Belt close to the Orion Nebula cluster, at a mean distance of 325 pc from the Sun. The average radial velocity of the cluster members is $~15 ly$. This is one of the nearest open clusters to the Sun, which makes it a potentially useful target for studying young stars and their transition to the main sequence.

The cluster has an angular radius of $26.6 km/s$ and a core angular radius of $36 arcminute$. It is a sparse cluster with twenty high–probability members. This is considered a super-solar cluster, with the components generally having a higher abundance of iron compared to the Sun. The mean metallicity is $7.2 arcminute$ or $0.22$, depending on what assumptions are made. At least four cluster members display an infrared excess at a wavelength of 8μm that is suggestive of warm dust, while the A-type star HD 45435 displays a strong excess at 24μm. The latter may indicate the star is in an early evolutionary state. Only one member of the cluster appears to be chemically peculiar.