SkyMate
Join waitlistWaitlist
Open star cluster · Perseus

Double Cluster

h and chi Persei · Caldwell 14
Above the horizon all nightHighest after dark 02:18 · north · 84°
Join the waitlistSkyMate is coming to iPhone
Double ClusterN ↑ E ← · 36° FIELD

Where is the Double Cluster?

Times for LondonChange city

Look north, about 84° up at 02:18 in Perseus.

Rises
Always up
Highest
02:23
Sets
Never
Best after dark
02:18 · 84°

Can I see the Double Cluster tonight?

From London tonight, the Double Cluster is above the horizon all night. It’s highest after dark at 02:18, in the north at 84°.

At magnitude 3.7, with its light spread over an area of sky, it can be seen by eye from a dark site; light pollution hides it quickly.

This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.

What does the Double Cluster look like?

Eyes

Under dark skies, a brighter knot in the Milky Way between Perseus and Cassiopeia.

Binoculars

Two glittering star clouds side by side in the same field, a classic sight.

Telescope

Use low power to fit both clusters in one field. Look for a few orange stars among the blue-white ones.

What you’re likely to see, not what a space telescope photographs.

About the Double Cluster

The Double Cluster is a pair of rich open star clusters, NGC 869 and NGC 884, side by side in Perseus. They are about 7,500 light-years away and only a few hundred light-years apart from each other.

Both are young, a few million to around 14 million years old, and each contains hundreds of stars, including bright blue giants and a few orange-red supergiants.

Visible to the naked eye under dark skies, they were known in ancient times. Unusually, they never made it into Messier’s catalog.

The Greek astronomer Hipparchus recorded the Double Cluster around 130 BC. NGC 884, the eastern cluster, contains several red supergiants that stand out as orange points among the blue-white stars.

The clusters are part of a larger group of young, massive stars in Perseus. Their light left them around 7,500 years ago.

The Milky Way around them is rich in fainter clusters; sweep slowly with binoculars to find more.

Nearby in the sky

Questions

Why isn’t the Double Cluster in the Messier catalog?
Messier listed objects that could be confused with comets. Why he left the Double Cluster out is not known.
Are the two clusters related?
Probably. They are at similar distances and may have formed in the same large star-forming region.
Its constellationPerseusAnother open star clusterPleiadesAnother open star clusterBeehive Cluster7° awayMessier 1037° awaySeginGuideBinoculars or telescope: what to start with

Sources: SkyMate; star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences