Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  NGC 869  ·  NGC 884  ·  The star 7Per  ·  chi Persei Cluster  ·  h Persei Cluster
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NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus, Phil Swift
NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus
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NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus

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NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus, Phil Swift
NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus
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NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus

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Description

The Double Cluster (also known as Caldwell 14) consists of the open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 (often designated h Persei and χ Persei, respectively), which are close together in the constellation Perseus. 
Both visible with the naked eye, NGC 869 and NGC 884 lie at a distance of 7,500 light years. 
Based on their individual stars, the clusters are relatively young, both 12.8 million years old.

There are more than 300 blue-white super-giant stars in each of the clusters. 
The clusters are also blueshifted, with NGC 869 approaching Earth at a speed of 39 km/s (24 mi/s) and NGC 884 approaching at a similar speed of 38 km/s (24 mi/s).
Their hottest main sequence stars are of spectral type B0. 
NGC 884 includes five prominent red supergiant stars, all variable and all around 8th magnitude.

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NGC869 and NGC884 (h and X Persei), The Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus, Phil Swift