Sky & Telescope - October 2019 - 33

degrees east, where the young open clusters IC 1848, Cr 33,
and Cr 34 light up the Soul Nebula. Together, the Heart and
Soul and their embedded clusters show the galaxy recycling
itself, turning the ashes of dead stars into the blazing hearts
of new suns.
To see an older product of that same process, look 3°
northeast to ﬁnd Trumpler 3, a tight little swarm of lights
cupped inside a curving arc of brighter stars, like sugar in a
spoon. Trumpler 3 is only 2,200 light-years away, one of our
neighbors here in the Orion Spur. With an estimated age
of 70 million years, it's still what astronomers consider a
"young" open cluster, even though its light comes to us from
the time of T. rex and Triceratops.
Our last stop is the cluster Stock 23, also known as
Pazmino's Cluster, right on the constellation boundary with
Camelopardalis, the Giraffe. Stock 23 might be a chance
grouping rather than an open cluster, but whatever it is, it

escaped detection for a long time. The ﬁrst to note it was professional astronomer Jürgen Stock, who logged it around 1957,
and it didn't come to widespread amateur attention before
John Pazmino popularized it in 1977. This comparatively
recent discovery illustrates two of my favorite facts about the
sky: It's very big and very full. We're not going to run out of
things to ﬁnd and enjoy anytime soon.
As ever, this has been a galloping tour through just a
handful of the best and brightest objects in Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Many more await, and I strongly suspect that some
of them have yet to be discovered. I hope that you'll return to
pay homage to the celestial King and Queen, and I'm certain
that they'll richly reward your attention.

¢ Cassiopeia was the first constellation Contributing Editor
MATT WEDEL learned, and he still thinks of it as his celestial

home base.

Targets in Cepheus and Cassiopeia
Object
Mu Cephei
Trumpler 37

Type
Supergiant
Open cluster

Mag(v)
3.4-5.1
3.5

Size

Dec.

21h

43.5m

+58° 47′

90′

21h

39.0m

+57° 29′

53.7m

+62° 36′

NGC 7160

Open cluster

6.1

7′

21h

NGC 7235

Open cluster

7.7

6′

22h 12.4m

+57° 16′

3.5-4.4

22h

29.2m

+58° 25′

2° × 5°

23h

07.9m

+64° 13′

24.8m

+61° 36′

Delta Cephei
The King's Gift

Cepheid variable
Asterism

M52

Open cluster

6.9

13′

23h

NGC 7789

Open cluster

6.7

16′

23h 57.4m

+56° 43′

NGC 129

Open cluster

6.5

12′

00h 30.0m

+60° 13′

00h

40.5m

+56° 32′

13′

01h

19.6m

+58° 17′

46.2m

+61° 14′

Alpha Cas
NGC 457

Giant
Open cluster

2.2
6.4

NGC 663

Open cluster

7.1

16′

01h

NGC 654

Open cluster

6.5

5′

01h 44.0m

+61° 53′

NGC 659

Open cluster

7.9

6′

01h 44.4m

+60° 40′

6′

01h

33.4m

+60° 39′

45.8m

+71° 49′

M103

Open cluster

7.4

Cr 463

Open cluster

5.7

57′

01h

IC 1805

Emission nebula

18.3

150′

02h 33.4m

+61° 27′

Open cluster

6.5

20′

02h 32.7m

+61° 27′

18′

02h

51.1m

+60° 25′

59.3m

+60° 24′

Melotte 15
IC 1848

Open cluster

6.5

Cr 33

Open cluster

5.9

39′

02h

Cr 34

Open cluster

6.8

24′

02h 59.4m

+60° 34′

Trumpler 3

Open cluster

7.0

15′

03h 11.8m

+63° 15′

29′

03h

+60° 07′

Stock 23

Open cluster

16.2m

Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object's size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture
and magnification of the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.

sk yandtele scope.com * OCTOBE R 2 019

http://www.skyandtelescope.com

Sky & Telescope - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - October 2019