Clusters in Cassiopeia

[Andrew]

Got out briefly tonight for an hour before clouds rolled in. Spent some time finding my way around clusters in Cygnus before moving down to Cassiopeia. This is one of my favourite constellations so I spent a while on a handful of open clusters there:

M52: Not a cluster I’ve looked at much before. About 15’ across with approx 100 fairly faint stars nicely arranged in chains, pairs, triangles etc with randomly arranged pockets of space between them. Well separated from background stars on most sides, but with a row of bright stars near to its SE boundary.

M103: I keep coming back to this cluster, partly because it’s so easy to find, but mainly because of its perfect triangular shape and single central gold star combined with a handful of very bright white-blue stars, which make it look like some sort of jewel.

NGC663: There’s something about this cluster which makes it more attractive (to me) than others that are much brighter. About 50 stars resolved tonight arranged in two main arms which give it a distinct horseshoe shape. I particularly like the fact that these arms seem to glow with unresolved starlight and their brightness is emphasized by the dark lane that separates them. Each arm ends in a pair of bright stars which look a little like eyes, in fact it’s quite reminiscent of the owl cluster (NGC457) in that respect.

NGC654: Not far from NGC663 and not as spectacular, this cluster showed about 25-30 faint stars in a rich cloud maybe 5’ across. Made more attractive by a very bright gold star lying adjacent to the cluster and by the fact that it’s very well separated from the background stars.

NGC559: A little tricker this one since by this stage transparency was poor. Maybe only 30 faint stars resolved in several arms or chains. Appeared to be quite a bit of unresolved starlight so suspect the view would improve a lot under better conditions.

Finished off with a very speedy tour of some easy targets (M31/32/110, M57, M34, M29) before the sky clouded over completely.

[Talyn]

Cassiopeia is a great region, one of my favourites for open cluster observing, being incredibly rich in these.

[Talitha]

Thanks Andrew, you've got quite a descriptive writing style!