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Show the direction and distance to this star cluster on the Galactic Map.

Proper Name	None
Messier Number	None
NGC/IC Number	NGC 2040
Constellation	Dorado
Right Ascension	5h 36m 1s
Declination	-67° 34' 57"
Distance	c.160,000 light years c.49,100 parsecs
Magnitude	Apparent: +11.47 Absolute: -6.98
Diameter	Apparent: 3' Actual: c. 140 light years
Number of Stars	c. 100
Optimum Visibility	December / January (Usually visible from southern latitudes)
Notes	NGC 2040 is a loose collection of hot young stars within a cloud of nebulous material. Given the widely separated nature of this grouping, some sources prefer to classify it as a 'stellar association', a cluster in which the stars share a common origin, but have since drifted apart from one another.

The stars of NGC 2040 lie on the fringes of a supernova remnant, a bubble-shaped formation designated LMC 4. The distinctive lobed shape to the direct west of the cluster is the Seagull Nebula, NGC 2032. All of these formations lie within the Large Magellanic Cloud outside the main disc of the Milky Way Galaxy, some 160,000 light years from the Sun. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas

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