H-NGC225
Open Cluster in Cassiopeia
About
The Sailboat Cluster, a young open cluster in Cassiopeia about 2,200 light-years away and also listed as Collinder 7. Rod Pommier gave it the name in a 1990s magazine article: an arc of four blue stars forms the sail and a fifth star the boom.
Imaging tips
- Framing of 2020–3370 mm on APS-C suits the cluster, with the reflection nebula vdB 4 nearby, about 8′ away.
- The cluster sits in a dusty field. vdB 4, a blue reflection nebula, lies beside it, with the dark nebula LDN 1302 further out, so broadband imaging is the way to catch both.
- One imager took 25 hours of LRGB, another took 8.5 hours unguided (210 min luminance, 100 min per colour).
- Best around September and October, when it peaks near 78° from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 12′
- Magnitude
- 7.0
- Coordinates
- RA 0h 43.2m, Dec +61° 46′
- Framing, APS-C
- 2020–3370 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 3090–5160 mm
- Best months
- Sep, Oct
- Peak altitude
- 78° from 50°N, 63° from 35°N
Nearby
- vdB4 · 8.3′ away