Double Cluster

Object Type: Open Cluster
Top image - AP 5" Refractor, 230 min; Lower image - APO 80mm refractor, 70 min.

The Double Cluster (Caldwell 14) is the striking pair of naked-eye open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 in Perseus, lying about 6,800 and 7,600 light-years away, respectively, and genuinely close to each other in space. Both are young clusters, only around 13 million years old, packed with hot, luminous blue supergiant stars, and surrounded by an extended halo of stars totaling at least 20,000 solar masses. They are a spectacular sight in binoculars and rich-field telescopes.