Object Analysis

The Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3532) is a bright open cluster in the constellation Carina. It is located approximately 1,321 light-years away. It is informally named the Wishing Well Cluster because its stars resemble silver coins shimmering at the bottom of a well.

It is one of the richest open clusters in the sky, containing about 150 stars of 7th magnitude or fainter. It covers an area of the sky almost twice the size of the full moon. It was the very first target observed by the Hubble Space Telescope after its launch in 1990.

The cluster lies in a very rich part of the Milky Way, near the Eta Carinae Nebula. Its stars are chemically rich in metals, suggesting they formed from a gas cloud that had already been enriched by previous generations of supernovae.