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7 & 8 Persei, NGC 869
Discussion
The 1.27° x 0.85° Celestron Origin field of view centred on 7 Persei (Chi Persei) also encompasses 8 Persei and open cluster NGC 869 (h Persei). The field is filled with bright stars as you can see in my October 2024 image. It is also one of the best collections of red and blue supergiants in the Milky Way, located at distances and extinction levels that help to simplify research. Links to the Simbad Database for the labeled objects are listed below as action buttons.
NGC 869 is one of the two open clusters in the often cited Perseus Double Cluster, the other being NGC 884 (Chi Persei). Membership to these clusters has been studied by de Burgos et al. from high-resolution spectra of candidate stars (see reference below). According to this reference, members of the Per OB1 association, which includes the Double Cluster, are marked with asterisks (*) on the Simbad Database link buttons at the bottom of the page.
- "High-resolution spectroscopic study of massive blue and red supergiants in Per OB1", A. de Burgos, S. Simon-Díaz, D.J. Lennon, R. Dorda, I. Negueruela, M.A. Urbaneja, L.R. Patrick, and A. Herrero, Astronomy & Astrophysics 643, 2020.
Logbook
- Date & Time: October 13, 2024, 5:30 am
- Location: Kempt Shore, Nova Scotia, Canada, 45°N
- Conditions: Clear
- Technical: 10-sec exposures, 10-min integration, line power, no filter, no post-processing
NGC 869 Close Up
A closer look at the open cluster NGC 869 in Perseus. Links to the Simbad Database for the labeled objects are listed below as action buttons.
Constellation Perseus Chart
Hand drawing of the northeast section of Perseus. 7 Persei is also known as Chi Persei, HD 13994 and GAIA DR3 458574349694431488. It is interesting to note that as of March 27, 2025 (a few days ago), the European Space Agency's GAIA Satellite, launched on 19 December 2013, was officially retired. Data Release 4 will happen next year and the final legacy catalogue (DR5) competed around 2030. This billion object surveyor has made an incredibly important contribution to almost all research areas of astronomy.