NGC 3532 - Wishing Well or Football Cluster in Carina

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NGC 3532 (also known as the Wishing Well Cluster, Football Cluster or with the initials C 91) is a bright open cluster located in the constellation Carina. It contents approximately 150 stars of 7th magnitude or fainter, and lies about 1300 l.y. away from the Solar System. The brightest yellow star at the top right is the 4th-magnitude Cepheid variable star x Carinae (V382 Carinae). This is the nearest Cepheid which can be seen with naked eye, but it is not a member of the cluster. This celestial object was spotted by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in January of 1752, and was later baptized with the evocative name of Wishing Well, given the similarity with the sparkling silver coins that accumulate on the bottom of a wishing well. However, it is obvious to think that a similar object had been observed in ancient times, due to its remarkable brightness. Moreover, until some 2500-3000 years ago this object could be seen above the Mediterranean horizon , and took a more southern latitude later, due to the precession of the equinoxes.Later It was rediscovered by James Dunlop, who watched it with his telescope from the southern hemisphere, and afterwards by John Herschel, who included it in his catalog. On 20 May 1990 NGC 3532 became the first target ever observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

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