NGC869 & NGC884, THE DOUBLE CLUSTER on 2024-10-09,10

NGC869 & NGC884,The Double Cluster, or Caldwell 14, is the name for two open star clusters located in the constellation of Perseus. The two clusters both lie at an approximate distance of 7,500 light years from Earth and are about 12.8 million years old. NGC869 has a mass of 4,700 solar masses and NGC884 weighs in at 3,700 solar masses. Both clusters are surrounded with a very extensive halo of stars, with a total mass for the complex of at least 20,000 solar masses. There are more than 300 blue-white super-giant stars in each of the clusters. The clusters are also blueshifted, with NGC869 approaching Earth at a speed of 39 km/s and NGC884 approaching at a speed of 38 km/s.

This photo was taken in Kyle, Texas through a 6-inch f/4 Telescope, on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, with a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera plus an Optolong L Pro Light Pollution Filter. The processing was done in PixInsight. The total image acquisition time is: 4 hours 56 minutes 00 Seconds.

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