Perseus Double Cluster
The Double Cluster in Perseus consists of a pair of naked-eye open star clusters in the constellation Perseus. Also known as h (NGC 869) and X (NGC 884), the two clusters are located at distances of 7600 and 6800 light years, respectively. They are relatively close together in space. Based on analysis of individual stars, the ages of the two clusters are 5.6 million years (h) and 3.2 million years (X).
Technical Details
- Object: Perseus Double Cluster
- Object Type: Open Star Cluster
- Other Names: h+X Persei, NGC 884 (X Persei) and NGC 869 (h Persei), Caldwell 14
- Date/Time: 2011 Jan 27 at 03:07 UTC
- Location: Bifrost Astronomical Observatory, Portal, AZ
- Telescope: Takahashi Epsilon 180 ED Hyperbolic Astrograph
- Mount: Astro-Physics 1200GTO
- Camera: Nikon D300
- Exposure: 4 x 300s, f/2.8, ISO 800
- File Name: hkPer-01w.jpg
- Processing: Stacking 4 Images, Cropping, Levels, Unsharp Mask (Photoshop CS5)
- Original Image Size: 2848 x 4288 pixels (12.2 MP); 9.5" x 14.3" @ 300 dpi
- Rights: Copyright 2011 by Fred Espenak. All Rights Reserved. See: Image Licensing.