M52
Where is M52?
Look north, about 80° up at 23:30 in Cassiopeia.
- Rises
- Always up
- Highest
- 23:27
- Sets
- Never
- Best after dark
- 23:30 · 80°
Can I see M52 tonight?
From London tonight, M52 is above the horizon all night. It’s highest after dark at 23:30, in the north at 80°.
At magnitude 5.0, with its light spread out, it needs binoculars and a dark sky.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does M52 look like?
Eyes
Not visible to the naked eye.
Binoculars
A small, faint hazy patch.
Telescope
A rich, wedge-shaped cluster of faint stars, better at medium power.
About M52
M52 is a rich, compact open cluster in Cassiopeia, set in the Milky Way. It contains a couple of hundred stars, with a brighter orange star near one edge.
Nearby lies the Bubble Nebula, a faint shell of gas blown by a hot star, which is a challenge for larger telescopes under dark skies.
Its distance is uncertain, with estimates of several thousand light-years. The cluster is young, probably a few tens of millions of years old.
Charles Messier discovered it in 1774 while following a comet. The Bubble Nebula lies less than a degree to its southwest, blown by the wind of a single massive star inside it.
Cassiopeia is rich in open clusters. M103 and NGC 457, sometimes called the Owl or E.T. Cluster, are other good targets nearby.
M52 is well placed on autumn evenings, and from mid-northern latitudes it never sets.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Can I see the Bubble Nebula?
Sources: SkyMate; star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences