Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  34 Cas  ·  NGC 457  ·  Owl Cluster  ·  The star φ Cas
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NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea, Tim Hawkes
NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea
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NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea, Tim Hawkes
NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea
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NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea

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Description

25 minute OSC total exposure at F 4.5 before the moon rose and the clouds came over.

NGC457 is a very photogenic cluster imo,  over 7,900 light years away  and estimated to have formed just 21 million years ago.   The two bright stars that can be imagined as the owl's eyes are Phi Cassiopeiae (magnitude 5 and spectral type F0) and HD 7902 (magnitude 7).  Phi Cassiopeiae is probably a foreground star rather than a member of the cluster, (if it were a member then at 7900 ly - a distance at which the sun would appear as a magnitude 17.3 star -   its luminosity would need to surpass that of Rigel for it to be visible at magnitude 5.  The third brightest star is the red supergiant variable star V466 Cassiopeiae. The cluster comprises a field of about 150 stars of magnitudes 9-13 of which 60 have thus far been identified as true members.

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  • NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea, Tim Hawkes
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NGC457 the Owl star cluster in Cassiopiea, Tim Hawkes