Clusters in Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia has been a regular target for me since the late summer nights started getting dark enough for me to be out with my telescope. The constellation is full of clusters, several of which I have already mentioned in previous blog posts however there are others and I decided last night to try and see a couple more of them in addition to imaging my favourite of them all, NGC 457.

Messier 52
RA: 23 24  Dec: +61 35
Type: Open Cluster
Magnitude: 5

Messier 52 is an open cluster that is anywhere between 3,000 and 7,000 light years away and is comprised of at least 190 stars. I wasn't sure if it would be that easy to find this cluster as the brightest star has a magnitude of 11 but due the number of stars I actually saw it in my finderscope as a small hazy patch. Through the telescope it didn't initially look that special but once I used averted vision it became a lovely compact collection of faint stars. Even now 9 months since I started my astronomy adventure I find the power of averted vision to be quite amazing.

Supposedly the Bubble Nebula is less than a degree away from this cluster but I couldn't see it, then again from a light polluted back garden with my small telescope I didn't really expect to.

NGC 7789 / The White Rose Cluster
RA: 23 57  Dec: +56 43
Type: Open Cluster
Magnitude: 6.7

The White Rose Cluster is an open cluster that is approximately 8,000 light years away and was actually discovered by William Herschel's sister, Caroline. The name is because when viewed visually the loops of stars and dark lanes supposedly look like the swirling pattern of rose petals. Personally, I don't see what the heck people are talking about as to me it just looked like a plain old cluster of stars but I may need to take a look at it from a dark site in the future to see if that was the issue.

NGC 457 / Caldwell 13 / The Owl Cluster
RA: 01 20 Dec: +58 17
Type: Open Star Cluster
Magnitude: 6.4

I have discussed NGC 457 previously when I detailed my visual observations but to recap it is an Open Cluster about 9,000 Light Years away and is comprised of about 200 stars in a region 30 light years wide. It does have a beautiful shape and I was therefore determined to try and get an image of it to share with you all. Amazingly enough I think I did a pretty good job considering the limitations of my set up but feel free to make up your own mind on how good a job I have done.