NGC 361

{{short description|Open star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}}

{{Infobox open cluster

| name = NGC 361

| image = File:NGC 361 DECam.jpg

| caption = NGC 361 with DECam

| credit = Digitized Sky Survey

| epoch = J2000

| constellation = Tucana

| ra = {{RA|01|02|10.1}}{{cite web

| title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database

| work=Results for NGC 0361

| url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=NGC+361&extend=no&hconst=73&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES

| access-date=September 2, 2016}}

| dec = {{DEC|-71|36|17}}

| constellation name = Tucana

| dist_ly = 180000

| appmag_v = 12.24

| size_v = 2.6′ × 2.6′{{cite simbad|title=NGC 361|access-date=January 1, 2017}}

| age = {{val|8.10|1.20}} Gyr

| mass_msol = {{val|2.15e5}}

| notes =

| names = ESO 051-SC 012.

|image_size=250}}

NGC 361 is an open cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is located in the constellation Tucana. It was discovered on September 6, 1826, by James Dunlop. It was described by Dreyer as "very very faint, pretty large, very little extended, very gradually brighter middle."{{cite web|title=New General Catalog Objects: NGC 350 - 399|url=http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc3a.htm#361|publisher=Cseligman|access-date=November 20, 2016}} At an aperture of 31.0 arcseconds, its apparent V-band magnitude is 12.24, but at this wavelength, it has 0.40 magnitudes of interstellar extinction.

NGC 361 is about 8.1 billion years old. Its estimated mass is {{solar mass|{{val|2.15e5}}|link=y}}, and its total luminosity is {{solar luminosity|{{val|1.04e5}}|link=y}}, leading to a mass-to-luminosity ratio of 2.07 {{solar mass}}/{{solar luminosity}}.{{cite journal|doi=10.1093/mnras/stab1065|title=Dynamical masses and mass-to-light ratios of resolved massive star clusters – II. Results for 26 star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds|year=2021|last1=Song|first1=Ying-Yi|last2=Mateo|first2=Mario|last3=Bailey|first3=John I.|last4=Walker|first4=Matthew G.|last5=Roederer|first5=Ian U.|last6=Olszewski|first6=Edward W.|last7=Reiter|first7=Megan|last8=Kremin|first8=Anthony|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=504|issue=3|pages=4160–4191|doi-access=free |arxiv=2104.06882}} All else equal, older star clusters have higher mass-to-luminosity ratios; that is, they have lower luminosities for the same mass.