Ara

Ara (abbreviation: Ara), the Altar, is a small southern constellation that is rich in star clusters. See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.

Stingray Nebula

The Stingray Nebula. Hubble Space Telescope image.

The Stingray Nebula (Hen 3-1357) is the youngest known planetary nebula and,as a result, one of the smallest. Its diameter is only about one-tenth that of most objects of its kind. It lies at a distance of about 18,000 light-years.

Stars in Ara brighter than magnitude 4.0
star	vis mag	abs mag	spec type	distance (ly)	RA (h m s)	Dec (° ' ")
Beta	2.84	-3.50	K3Ib-IIa	603	17 25 18	-55 31 47
Alpha (Choo)	2.84	-1.52	B2Vne	242	17 31 50	-49 52 34
Zeta	3.12	-3.11	K3III	574	16 58 37	-55 59 24
Gamma	3.31	-4.40	B1Ib	1,140	17 25 24	-56 22 39
Delta	3.60	-0.20	B8Vn	187	17 31 06	-60 41 01
Theta	3.65	-3.81	B2Ib	1,010	18 06 38	-50 05 30
Eta	3.77	-1.14	K5III	313	16 49 47	-59 02 29

Other objects of interest
name	type of object	notes
NGC 6193	open cluster	A good object for binoculars, containing about 30 stars. Magnitude 5.2; diameter 15'; RA 16h 38m, Dec -48° 40'
IC 4651	open cluster	Richer but fainter than NGC 6193 and requires a small telescope. Magnitude 7.1; diameter 12'; distance 3,600 light-years; RA 17h 21m, Dec -49° 54'
NGC 6397	globular cluster	The brightest of three easy globulars in Ara; it can be glimpsed with the naked eye and looks like a misty patch in small instruments. At a distance of about 8,200 light-years, it may be the second closest globular to Earth after M4. Magnitude 5.6; diameter 25.7'; RA 17h 37m, Dec -53° 39'