M34
Open Cluster in Perseus
About
An open cluster in Perseus, also catalogued as NGC 1039, about 1,500 light-years away. It holds roughly 400 stars and is only 200–250 million years old; at least 19 of its members are white dwarfs.
Imaging tips
- About 35′ across, so 690–1,150 mm on APS-C frames it with room to spare; there is no nebulosity to compete with the stars.
- It is bright, so little data is needed: one write-up used 20 three-minute subs, about an hour in total, on an 8-inch Newtonian.
- Short subs also work: one imager took 105 thirty-second frames with no guiding, through a light-pollution filter.
- Best around October and November, when it passes almost overhead from mid-northern latitudes.
Facts
- Size
- 35′
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- Coordinates
- RA 2h 42.1m, Dec +42° 47′
- Framing, APS-C
- 690–1150 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 1060–1770 mm
- Best months
- Oct, Nov
- Peak altitude
- 83° from 50°N, 82° from 35°N