Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Deep Sky Object Image Gallery

Open star clusters are widely distributed in our galaxy and represent a loose collection of stars which number from a few dozen to a few hundred stars and are weakly-held gravitationally. Perhaps the three most famous such open clusters are the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus, the Beehive (M44) in Cancer and the double cluster in Perseus. They are all characterized with a handful of hot and white prominent stars and nebular material surrounding these stars.

Note: Open cluster NGC 1039 is one of three prominent open clusters in the constellation of Perseus (the other two being NGC 884 and NGC 869 which form the famous "Double in Perseus"). With an apparent diameter of 35 arc-minutes, just slightly greater than that of the full moon, this cluster has been estimated to be approximately 180 million years of age and to span 14 million light-years in diameter. The cluster is comprised of approximately 100 member stars including multiple bright members whose magnitudes range from 7.3 to 9.0. The cluster is best observed during winter using low magnifications (50-100x) and is located a few degrees due north of Algol (â-Per). Although independently discovered by Messier in 1764, it is believed to have also been observed by Giovanni Batista Hodierna over 100 years earlier.

Please click on the image below to display in higher resolution (900 x 1200)

Image Details
NGC 1039 - Open Cluster in Perseus
Imaging Details
NGC Number:
1039

Common Name(s):
M34

Other Designations:
Mel 17, OCL 382

Object Type:
Open Cluster

Object Classif:
II 3 r

Constellation:
Perseus

RA / Dec:
02h 42m 07s /
42° 44' 46"


Distance:
1,400 light-yrs

Object Size:
35' x 35'

Magnitude:
5.2
Date:
Jan 13, 2012
19:05 - 21:20 UT+2


Location:
Athens, Greece

Equipment:
AP 305/f3.8 Riccardi-Honders
AP 1200GTO GEM
SBIG ST-10XME
SBIG CFW10
SBIG LRGB filters


Integrations:
Lum :  030 min (30 x 1 min)
Red :  030 min (10 x 3 min)
Green :  030 min (10 x 3 min)
Blue :  030 min (10 x 3 min)
Binning :  1x1 (Lum),  1x1 (RGB)

Image Scale:
1.17" per pixel

Temperatures:
Ambient : + 06.0 ° C
CCD Chip : - 25.0 ° C

Software:
CCDSoft V5.00.201
CCDStack V1.6.0.5
eXcalibrator V1.0.3.0
Aladin V6
Photoshop CS2