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Lunar Occultation of Jupiter (Egress)

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Large Bright Open Clusters

Started by Herbert Kraus, 09/11/2005 03:25AM
Posted 09/11/2005 03:25AM | Edited 09/11/2005 03:29AM Opening Post
Those of you who -- like me -- enjoy observing deep-sky objects but are handicapped at your home location by skies that are compromised by urban pollution, might enjoy the type of object that has recently excited my interest: The galactic cluster that contains numerous bright or moderately bright stars scattered over an area that fills or exceeds the field of view of a low-power eyepiece. Some examples currently in our evening skies are:
IC 4665 in Ophiuchus (17:47:26.707 +5:42:54)
IC 4756 in Serpens Cauda (18:39:8.75 +5:26:16)
Stock 1 in Vulpecula (19:35:59.505 +25:11:11)
NGC 6940 in Vulpecula (20:34.7 +28:18)
NGC 752 in Andromeda (1:57:36 +37:40:0)
Stock 2 in Cassiopeia (2:15:0 +59:30:12)
If any of you has additional suggestions, I would be pleased to learn of them. Thanks.

NexStar 8i SCT, Orion 80ED APO refractor, Orion 120 mm EQ refractor, 3.5-inch Questar
Posted 09/11/2005 06:41PM #1
Another thing about those big bright clusters is that they're very impressive to the general public. I've spent quite a bit of time at public star parties showing large open clusters (which, incidentally, can be very easy to find in a hurry!), and people are always very impressed by how pretty all the stars are, and by how many of them are visible.
Not to mention they can be seen even in nasty light-polluted skies. grin

~Denise
Posted 09/11/2005 09:58PM #2
For REALLY wide fields, Collinder 70 (around Orion's Belt) and the Alpha Persei association are great. IC1396 just 'below' Cepheus is a great one, with a nice triple star as a bonus. There's also nebulosity, although I've never noted it. NGC 7209 and 7243, both in Lacerta, are also nice big clusters.