Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  NGC 7044
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 7044, Gary Imm
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 7044

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 7044, Gary Imm
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 7044

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

This open star cluster is located 11,000 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus at a declination of +42 degrees.  It is a magnitude 12 cluster of over 500 stars which spans 6 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of about 20 light years.

This is an interesting cluster in terms of its density and its lack of many blue or large stars.  The brighter blue stars in the image are not part of the cluster. 

I also find fascinating that the stars in the cluster do not seem to my eye to be randomly placed.  It seems that some are aligned in rough lines or "filaments".  Another way to look at it is that the void areas seem connected.   I have never read that open clusters are arranged in such a way, so it is probably just my imagination.

Comments