Discovered Nov. 6, 1782 by William Herschel
NGC 2281 is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Auriga. The estimated distance to the cluster is approximately 1,820 light years. The cluster is readily resolved in small to medium amateur telescopes. The visual diameter of the cluster is a little less than that of the full Moon and measures approximately 25 arc-min. The age of the cluster is estimated to be about 650 million years.
1https://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc22a.htm#2281
2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2281