M29
Messier 29 or M29 (also designated NGC 6913) is an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 7.1 and its angular diameter is 7 arc-minutes. M29 lies at an estimated distance of 4000 light years. The Equinox 2000 coordinates are RA= 20h 23.9m, Dec= +38° 32´ which makes M29 best seen during the summer. The Messier Summer Star Chart shows the position of all Messier objects visible during that season.
The image above shows the uncropped view of M29 through the Takahashi E-180 Astrograph (North is to right). A 3x enlargement of this image appears to the right.
This open cluster was discovered by Messier in 1764. According to Kharchenko et al. (2005), the distance of M29 is 5160 light years and its diameter is 12 light years. However, there is uncertainty in the cluster's distance due to interstellar absorption along the line of sight. The cluster contains 69 stars and its estimated age is 90 million years.
For more information, see the Messier Catalog as well as specific entries for M29 in Wikipedia and SEDS.
Messier's Description of M29
July 29, 1764
`A cluster of 7 or 8 very small stars, which are below Gamma Cygni, which one sees with an simple refractor of 3.5 feet in the form of a nebula. Its position determined from Gamma Cygni. Reported on chart of the Comet of 1779.'
Technical Details
- Object: M29
- Other Names: NGC 6913
- Object Type: open cluster
- Object Data: Apparent Magnitude = 7.1, Angular Size = 7 arc-minutes
- Object Position (Equinox 2000): RA= 20h 23.9m, Dec= +38° 32´, Constellation = Cygnus
- Date/Time: 2011 Aug 02 at 08:31 UTC
- Location: Bifrost Astronomical Observatory, Portal, AZ
- Mount: Astro-Physics 1200GTO
- Telescope: Takahashi Epsilon 180 Hyperbolic Astrograph
- Camera: Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) (modified with a Baader UV/IR filter)
- Field of View: 1.70° x 2.56° at 1.7 arc-sec/pixel (web version: 10.0 arc-sec/pixel)
- Exposure: 2 x 300s, f/2.8, ISO 800
- File Name: M29-01w.jpg
- Processing (Adobe Camera Raw): Graduated Filter, Vignetting Correction, Noise Reduction, White Balance, Curves
- Processing (Photoshop CS5): Average Images, Curves, Noise Reduction
- Original Image Size: 3454 × 5179 pixels (17.9 MP); 11.5" x 17.3" @ 300 dpi
- Rights: Copyright 2011 by Fred Espenak. All Rights Reserved. See: Image Licensing.