Double Cluster?

[Manok101]

I enjoyed a couple of nights looking at the DC, and was wondering, are they really as close as they seem? Or is it an optical illusion?

[Stargazer51N]

According to Wikipedia ...

'NGC 884 and NGC 869 are at distances of 7600 and 6800 light-years away, respectively, so they are also close to one another in space'

[Ags]

7600 and 6800 light-years... Close? That makes them totally unrelated, a purely line-of-sight coincidence.

SEDS puts them closer together, but still 300 light years apart:

NGC 869, NGC 884

[Ptarmigan]

7600 and 6800 light-years... Close? That makes them totally unrelated, a purely line-of-sight coincidence.

Relax friend, instead of "Close?" (argumentative) try "relatively close compared to where we are "

and the OP asked "Or is it an optical illusion?"

Is that significantly different from your "line of sight" ?