The Double Cluster

Also known as Caldwell 14, the naked-eye open clusters NGC 884 (Chi Persei) and NGC 869 (h Persei) are 7600 and 6800 light-years away, respectively. The group is blue shifted and is approaching Earth at a speed of 14 miles/second (22 km/sec). Each cluster has over 300 blue-white super-giant stars with a total of approximately 13,000 to 20,000 objects with ages ranging from 5.6 million to 3.2 milion years old. Takahashi Epsilon-180, Canon 20D DSLR, 9 Images x 300 seconds subframe, Total= 45 minutes. Chester, Vermont, 9 October 2010.