| h
Per:
NGC 869, Melotte 13, Collinder 24, Raab 9, OCL 350 Integrated Visual Magnitude: 4.3 Apparent Diameter: 29' Distance: 7000 ly Age: 18 Myrs |
Chi
Per:
NGC 884, Melotte 14, Collinder 25, Raab 10, OCL 353 Integrated Visual Magnitude: 4.4 Apparent Diameter: 29' Distance: 7500 ly |
These magnificent open clusters together form one of the classic objects that most newbies cut their teeth on. The ancients knew them as twin fuzzy stars, long before telescopes would reveal their true identities. Walter Scott Houston called this pair of clusters "...a jewel. To the naked eye it shines with a steady glow, while telescopically its majesty is so compelling that it causes many observers to neglect fainter offerings in the area." Each among the best and brightest open clusters of the sky in their own right, together they form a sight not to be missed.
Burnham's describes the Double Cluster thusly, "Among the all-time favorites for amateur observers, it may be seen without optical aid as a hazy patch of light about midway between the stars of Perseus and the familiar "W" of Cassiopeia. A small telescope reveals that this luminous spot consists of two fine open star clusters together in the field, the pair forming one of the most impressive and spectacular objects in the entire heavens."
The sight of the myriad stars in these two adjoined groups is stunning, whether seen all at once in a wide field or by sweeping up small parts at a time.
The field in a 90m ETX
at 40x. North is up and east is to the right.
It appears that the clusters
are relatively close to one another in space; their relative distances
differ by only about 7%. Another thing to consider while gazing at their
beauty is that the stars that make up these clusters are pretty young as
stars go; they were formed out of giant molecular cloud complexes in a
wink of an eye ago (on cosmic timescales).
| Millennium
Star Atlas Vol I Chart 46
Sky Atlas 2000 Chart 1 Uranometria 2000 Vol I Chart 37 |
