NGC 7789

[iamjulian]

I took a few widefield photos of Cassiopeia the other night and one of the clearest clusters to show up was NGC 7789 - The White Rose Cluster. It wasn't on my observing radar but the clarity with which it displayed on the photo makes me think it must be pretty spectacular through the EP.

Has anyone observed it? Any tips on how best to view it, in terms of magnification? I'm just clouded out for the foreseeable future and wanted to hear other people's experiences with this cluster.

Thanks!

[kniclander]

if i remember correctly it's the one just to the right of the top star in cass (ie from that star you go stright up to M52 or just to the right for 7789. Under dark skies it is amazing through big bins (as, tbh, all brighter clusters are compared to through one eye...) and is virtually as bright as M52. It's pretty big (I'd guess, from memory, 3 to 4 times the area of M52) so start with low power and then go higher til you get the best view... If your skies aren't really dark, slightly higher power may bring it out better.

[Talitha]

Here's my observation from last year. I'd initially smudged a round-ish background glow to represent the dimmer, unresolver stars i was seeing but as the observation progressed, the rosepetals became more and more obvious.

Not too sure how dark of a sky you need, but mine's pretty dark.

[Doc]

This is my observation notes from 12.9.2009

Staying in the constellation Cassiopeia I found Ngc 7789 a pretty large 16'x16' cluster of very dim starts amongst lots of brighter ones. This cluster was dim and I estimate at least 250 stars of mag 12 to 13. There was a background nublosity as well which I imagine were a mass of even dimmer stas invisible to my 16" of aperture. Cartes du Ciel say it contains at least 1000 stars down to mag 18. This is now one of my favourite open clusters now ans I will make sure I return in the future.

[Beulah]

Ahhh, I saw that a few weeks ago when seeing & trasparency was great. I didn't know what it was until after the session, but didn't detect such detail as in Talitha's sketch. Repeated observations would probably bring out the detail, but then I was using the 26mm plossl at the time.

I agree with Doc, I saw this cluster as a tight mass at first, and I pondered for ages whether it was a Glob at first. Eventually I saw it as an open cluster with faint nebulosity.

For me, it was viewed with the 8" Dob with a 26mm Plossl (x46). The glimmer of this cluster with the FOV of the night sky was particularly attractive for me, and I don't recall seeing a variety of colour in the cluster as you sometimes do with the Double Cluster.

[albedo0.39]

From a dark sky, this is easily my favourite cluster. It's stunning. The petals pf the rose show very clearly in my 'scope and star resolution is not an issue. I recently had the great pleasure of introducing 7789 to Steh, Rob, Toby and Carl @ SSP-II and all were impressed and surprised that few people talk about it

Well done you for finding - you will not be dissapointed !

Steve

[dobserver]

From a dark sky, this is easily my favourite cluster. It's stunning. The petals pf the rose show very clearly in my 'scope and star resolution is not an issue. I recently had the great pleasure of introducing 7789 to Steh, Rob, Toby and Carl @ SSP-II and all were impressed and surprised that few people talk about it

Well done you for finding - you will not be dissapointed !

Steve

You sure did Steve, and it was soooo fabulous - thanks for the introduction. I didn't even know it was there!

And thanks to Julian for bringing this up as I'd forgotten it's NGC number and now I have it I'll not forget it again.

Definitely one of my favourites and I can't wait to find it for myself.

Steph

[iamjulian]

Gosh, you lot are so knowledgeable I love this place. Thanks for all the wonderful descriptions. In my photo is is a really tight looking cluster but way bigger than nearby M52. I cannot wait to see it now!

EDIT, here's the photo. The blue circle is NGC7789 and the red circle is M52.