Deep sky · Open cluster in Perseus · NGC 869
Open cluster
h Persei
Half of the Double Cluster — two rich clusters side by side, visible to the naked eye between Perseus and Cassiopeia.
- Type
- Open cluster
- Designations
- NGC 869
- Constellation
- Perseus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.8
- Apparent size
- 30′
- Position (J2000)
- RA 2h 19m · Dec +57° 08′
History
Hipparchus recorded the pair around 130 BC. They are about 13 million years old and 7,500 light-years away.
Look for
Binoculars at low power show both in one field: hundreds of stars, a few of them orange giants. Its twin is NGC 884.