Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  34 Cas  ·  34 phi Cas  ·  HD236689  ·  HD236697  ·  HD7284  ·  HD7636  ·  HD7733  ·  HD7902  ·  HD8159  ·  HD8272  ·  NGC 436  ·  NGC 457  ·  Owl Cluster  ·  The star φ Cas
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NGC 457, John Bozeman
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NGC 457

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NGC 457, John Bozeman
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 457

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Description

NGC 457 is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies over 7,900 light years away from the Sun. It has an estimated age of 21 million years. The cluster is sometimes referred by amateur astronomers as the Owl Cluster or the E.T. Cluster (due to its resemblance to the movie character). Two bright stars Phi Cassiopeiae (magnitude 5 and spectral type F0) and HD 7902 (magnitude 7) can be imagined as eyes. It is not yet clear if Phi Cassiopeiae is a member of the cluster, and if it is, then it would be one of the brightest stars known, surpassing Rigel in luminosity. For comparison, the Sun at the same distance as Phi Cassiopeiae would shine at just 17.3 magnitudes. The next brightest star is the red supergiant variable star V466 Cassiopeiae. The cluster features a rich field of about 150 stars of magnitudes 9-13. About 60 stars have been identified as true members of the cluster.

12 micron IR data from the WISE All Sky Survey. Processed with FITS Liberator, PixInsight and Photoshop 2023.

This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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NGC 457, John Bozeman