Collinder 58

Collinder 58 is a small, faint open star cluster in the constellation Auriga, also known as Cr 58 and NGC 1778. It is a poorly studied object whose status is not fully settled. Distance estimates vary widely: an older photoelectric study gives about 1,060 parsecs (roughly 3,500 light-years), while others place it at 1,100 to 2,000 parsecs. It spans about 5 to 15 arcminutes depending on the source, with roughly 50 stars between magnitude 10 and 15 in a 15-arcminute field, most arranged in two rows with a dark lane between them. Its age is also uncertain, with about 160 million years from the old photoelectric study. A 2011 study by Guerrero et al. observed 16 stars in the direction of NGC 1778 and concluded it was not possible to determine whether there is a cluster there, because the distances found for the stars were very different. William Herschel discovered it in 1787.