Stargazing News - December 31st, 2024
From
CJ@21:2/156 to
All on Mon Dec 30 07:25:48 2024
Tuesday December 31, 2024
Open Cluster NGC 752 (all night)
NGC 752 is a very large, magnitude 5.7 open star cluster in Andromeda. It's detectable with unaided eyes - but it will look its best in binoculars or through any size of telescope using low magnification. The cluster is located 4.5 degrees south of the bright double star Almach. NGC 752's large, 1.25 degree diameter is due to its mere 1470 light-years distance and to its
extreme age, which has given its stars time to disperse and to evolve into golden F-, G-, and K-class members. There's even a blue straggler towards the southwestern edge. Most of the stars are 9th and 10th magnitude, loosely distributed and arranged in curving lines or pairs, with no concentrated centre. A bright golden star named HD 11885 dominates a small triangle
pointing inwards from the southern sector of the cluster, but it's a
foreground star only 880 light-years away. The prominent magnitude 5.7 stars
56 Andromedae and HD11727 shine together half a degree to the south-southwest of the cluster.
(Data courtesy of Starry Night
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* Origin: CJ's Place, Orange City FL > cjsplace.thruhere.net (21:2/156)