H and χ Persei
NGC 869 & NGC 884
NGC 869 (also known as h Persei) is an open cluster located 7460 light years away in the constellation of Perseus. The cluster is about 14 million years old. It is the westernmost of the Double Cluster with NGC 884.

The clusters are both located in the Perseus OB1 association, a few hundred light years apart from each other. The clusters were first recorded by Hipparchus, thus have been known since antiquity.

The clusters are visible with the unaided eye between the constellations of Perseus and Cassiopeia as a brighter patch in the winter Milky Way. In small telescopes the cluster appears as an assemblage of bright stars located in a rich star field. Dominated by bright blue stars, the cluster also hosts a few orange stars.

Additionally to the RGB recording, I used a narrowband flter in order to capture the faint nebulae around the amazing double cluster.

Awarded Astronomical Picture of the Day (APOD) on Astronomia.com



Nominated for Top Pick on Astrobin

featured in       01/2024



Image Details
Date
March 2 & 11, 2022
LOCATion
Hannover (Germany)
Sky Quality
Bortle 5
Telescope
Celestron RASA 8 (203/400 f/2)
Mount
Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Main Camera
ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro
Gain 100, Offset 18, -10°
Focuser
Celestron Motorfocus
Filter
IDAS NBZ
Exposure
Ha: 90 x 120" (3h)
RGB: 112 x 120" (3h 44')
Total: 6h 44′
Guiding
ZWO ASI 120MM, PHD2
Calibration
Flats, Darks, Darkflats
Software
N.I.N.A., EQMod
Other
Artesky Filter Holder
Processing
Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight
  
  
Gallery
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Nebula
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Comet
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Cluster
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Nebula
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Cluster
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Moon
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Cluster
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Moon
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Nebula