Late Summer Clusters

6-7 August 2018, 23:00 – 01:00 BST

Tonight I set up the TV-60 and the Super Polaris for imaging M52 and NGC 457 (open clusters in Cassiopeia). While that was in progress I revisited some of last night’s targets and also sought out the following objects:

M2, globular cluster in Aquarius
Appeared as a circular fuzzball, possibly affected by haze and cloud. Some resolution with averted vision and one bright (foreground?) star offset from core. Easier to find than I expected, but needs revisiting under better conditions.

M92, globular cluster in Hercules
Every bit as impressive as M3 and M15, despite being on the “brighter” side of the sky tonight. Resolved nicely with a bright condensed core (albeit not as condensed as M15). It appeared to be a little elongated along one axis, almost oval–shaped.

NGC 129, open cluster in Cassiopeia
Loose arrangement of stars, but still obvious.

NGC 436, open cluster in Cassiopeia
Small cluster near NGC 457 (below the "feet" of the Owl Cluster). It was one of those clusters that hovered on the threshold of resolution in the 4-inch scope (which, in a way, made it more fascinating), but now with full resolution it seems a little disappointing – not as many stars as I was expecting.

M34, open cluster in Perseus
Large, bright and loose – more impressive than M39 in Cygnus, but I still think it looks better with a wider, more contrasty field.