Adding lustre to your Cluster

The Double Cluster imaged from our backyard
using my Canon 600d DSLR on a driven mount.
EOS lens at focal length 90 mm.
9x10 second lights plus 3 flats stacked using
(DeepSkyStacker and finished using APS)
3rd January 2014

The Double Cluster, also known as Caldwell 14, is visible to the naked eye from a dark location. Did you know that 'Caldwell' is the late Sir Patrick Moore's middle name? For more information on the Caldwell Catalogue follow the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldwell_catalogue

 After midnight, when the street lights are turned off, I can see the Double Cluster as a misty patch located midway between the main stars that make up the constellation Perseus and the 'w' asterism of the constellation Cassiopeia.  To see the two separate clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 I need to employ either my binoculars or telescope.

Enlarged view of the cluster cores

The clusters are at a distance of 7500 light years and are moving towards us (blue shifted) at speeds of 38 and 39 km/sec.  It is thought that the combined mass of the cluster stars and halo weighs in at over 20,000 solar masses.  Each cluster has more than 300 blue -white super giant stars.  The Double Cluster is circumpolar and never sets from my location in the United Kingdom.  I really love to view Caldwell 14 through my 11x80mm binoculars, a real astro-treat!  As the clusters are close to the radiant of the Perseid Meteor shower it's worth patrolling this area in August each year.  I once witnessed, through the eyepiece of my finder-scope,  a fireball meteor passing in front of the Double Cluster.  One of the most breathtaking moments I have experienced as an amateur astronomer.

For more information on the Perseid Meteor shower follow the link:
http://www.cute-calendar.com/event/peak-of-perseid-meteor-shower/6598-world.html

Star map: Looking North
White square denotes location of the Double Cluster, roughly
midway between the naked eye stars Mirfak in Perseus and Ruchbah in Cassiopeia

Credits: SkyMap Pro and Wikipedia