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| C14 (NGC 884), The great double cluster in the constellation of Cassiopeia, |
| Along with the Andromeda galaxy, the great Orion nebula, the bees, and the Pleiades, this is one of the great binocular images. In an 8" scope, each cluster is an awesome collection of stars Like its other well known neighbors of the winter sky, its been known since antiquity. Hippocras put it in his catalog of stars and stellar objects back in 130 BC, and it has probably been known since prehistorical times. It is relatively close to us, about 7 million light years away, and relatively young, at an estimated 3.5 million years old. The cores of the two clusters are only a few hundred light years apart from each other. This rare pair of clusters likely formed when two large and fairly close stars went supernova, and triggered a chain reaction of star formation within an enveloping but now long gone and dispersed cloud of interstellar material. |
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80mm f6 refractor, (480mm F.L.) Modified Canon
300D camera, placed at the scopes prime focus |