Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 869/884, Caldwell 14)

After I had been observing the new nova in Sagitta the other night (the 25th August) I thought I would point the telescope at an old favourite - the double cluster in the constellation of Perseus. The moon was a bit more of a problem by then so a nice bright object was ideal to observe. This is what I obtained with my Dwarf 3 after 83x15s (20.75 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 22:48 BST and the last at 23:14. The astro filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have binned the image x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up, unbinned crop of the above image:-

These open clusters are some of the finest objects in the night sky and can easily be seen with the naked eye as a faint double smudge near the sword hand of Perseus. Known also as h and Chi Persei, the upper cluster is NGC 869 and the lower is NGC 884. These objects (lying at a distance of about 7,500 light years in the Perseus Arm of our Milky Way galaxy) are relatively young and probably emerged from a single cloud of dust and gas about 13 million years ago. NGC 869 is the slightly more massive of the two but NGC 884 contains several prominent red supergiant stars (these can be seen in the above image). These are massive short-lived stars have already evolved off the main sequence. Each cluster contains about 300 stars.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

 

New Nova in Sagitta

** Update. This nova has now been given the name V488 Sagittae. **

Last night (25th August 2026) I received an alert to say that there was a new nova in the constellation of Sagitta (the arrow) and it was only discovered early in the morning by the NMW-TexasTech survey (NMW stands for New Milky Way). This new object has been given the designation PNV J19450648+1822422 and it is located at 19 45 06.48 +18 22 42.2. As it was clear I decided to go out and image it with my Dwarf 3 and here is what I obtained after 97x15s (24.25 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 22:12 BST and the last at 22:41. The visual filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have binned the image x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). 

The nova is marked by the green line. The orangey looking bright star to the left of centre is delta Sagittae and the next brightest star to the far right is alpha. The following chart and stellar comparison sequence comes from the AAVSO (and so I hope they don't mind me reproducing it here):-

The labels in this chart identify the comparison stars magnitude so 81 is actually 8.1 visual magnitude. There are stars labelled 71, 73 and 77 that look to be as bright as the nova so that means roughly that the nova has a magnitude of around 7.1 to 7.7. This agrees with the follow-up photometry that has been done.

All text and images (except from the AAVSO) © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Eastern Veil Nebula (Caldwell 33)

Saturday night (the 22nd August) we had a nice clear evening and the gibbous waxing moon was low down in the south east. The evenings are beginning to darken again and it now gets fully dark by 10pm BST. I went out with my Dwarf 3 just after that time and decided to have a go at photographing the eastern edge of the Veil Nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. This is Caldwell 33 and it is made up of NGC 6992 and NGC 6995. Here is what I obtained after 218x15s (54.5 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 22:23 BST and the last at 23:46. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up of the nebula in the centre of the frame:-

It certainly is a very pretty object! NGC 6992 is the upper part of the nebula and NGC 6995 is the lower part that curves back on itself. This cloud of shining gas results from a Type II supernova that exploded around 15,000 years ago. What we see here is only part of the whole structure (the Cygnus Loop) which measures something like 3.5 x 2.7 degrees on the sky. During the time since the star exploded the ejected material has been expanding outwards into interstellar space. What we see here is the shell of the shockwave interacting with the local interstellar medium. Ribbons of hot gas are produced - some parts are emitting the red hydrogen alpha line but others are producing the green emission line of ionised oxygen (it looks blueish here). In the wider-field image above you can make out other smaller patches of nebulosity to the right which are a part of the loop.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026  

The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380 and Sh2-142)

Last night (the 21st July) was one of those really nice still summer evenings when, with a bit of clear weather, you get a glorious view of the Milky Way. This is because, when it finally gets dark enough about 11.30 BST, Cygnus, through which the Milky Way travels, is quite high up in the south. I was quite pleased to see a number of nebulous patches low over our hedge which were possibly exciting objects like the Lagoon Nebula or the Eagle Nebula. I will have to get round to cutting some of the elder to get a better view! In the end I didn't have much time before it clouded over but I had a go at something at a much higher altitude and this was what has been called the Wizard Nebula in Cepheus. The moon was at first quarter but was low in the south west. This is what I obtained after 152x15s (38 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:45 BST and the last at 00:31 on the 22nd. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up of the nebula and star cluster in the centre of the frame:-

NGC 7380 actually refers to the young open star cluster that sits above the nebula in this image. The stars in this loose cluster formed between 4 and 11 million years ago and have emerged from the dust and gas that is surrounding them. The nebulosity is referred to as Sh2-142 in Sharpless's catalogue. The red colour comes from ionized hydrogen and most of the ionizing radiation comes from DH Cephei - a close pair of massive O-type stars. The cluster is about 8,500 light-years from us in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way. I suppose it gets its name of the wizard nebula because there is what looks like a wizard's pointed hat in the lower centre of the image and I guess his arms (with long sleeves) are stretched out either side whilst he creates an explosion of colour in the middle! Who knows!

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Pelican and North American Nebulae

The hot dry weather has been continuing for quite a few weeks now and last night was clear again but with the odd bit of patchy thin cloud. As Cygnus is relatively well placed by late in the evening I had a go at the area of nebulosity that is near the rear of the swan and not far from the brightest star in the constellation, Deneb.The Pelican and North American nebulae lie close together on the sky and form part of a large area of ionized gas. Here is what I obtained after 260x15s (1 hour 5 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:58 BST and the last at 01:27 on the 10th. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). 

The North American Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is in the lower left of the frame. The dark 'bite' taken out of it is supposed to represent the Gulf of Mexico. In the upper centre right of the picture is the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). This can be seen a bit better in the following rotated and cropped version below:-

As Ruben Kier says in his '100 Best Astrophotography Targets' the long beak looks more like the head of a prehistoric Pterodactyl than the head of a bird but one can get the idea. The nebula is about 1,500 light years from us.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026

The Dumbbell Nebula M27

For the first time since May I have been able to go out and observe with my Dwarf 3. The night before last (the 8th July) the sky was pretty clear after a hot day and the moon was one day past last quarter. The summer triangle is now obviously prominent in the south east and one object I haven't photographed for a while that appears in the midst of this triangle of bright stars is the Dumbbell Nebula M27 in the constellation of Vulpecula. We are still in a period when astronomical twilight lasts all night but it seemed to me that the sky was dark enough to make observing worthwhile (I could, for example, see parts of the Milky Way).

Here is the result of 198x15s (49.5 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:49 BST and the last at 00:57 on the 9th. The astro filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close up of the object using the unbinned data:-

The beautiful colours of this object have been picked up well in this image. Notice also the density of stars in the background. This is because the object is close to the Milky Way. This object is a fine example of a planetary nebula and is the result of an old star (a red giant) shedding its outer layers of dust and gas. This is what we can see in the form of a shell of material which surrounds the remnant of the original star (now a white dwarf). The red colours some from hot ionized hydrogen (the H-alpha Balmer line) and the blue colours from doubly ionized oxygen. The nebula is about 1360 light-years away and is approximately 2 light-years in diameter. Its age is estimated to be 9,800 years.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Great Hercules Cluster M13

It has been nearly two weeks since I was last able to carry out some observing. The last few days we have had some quite hot weather for May but only last night (the 24th) was the sky free from high level cloud and good enough for me to get the Dwarf out again. Even so, I had to contend with the Moon at one day past first quarter and a less than dark sky. I was initially going to observe NGC5907 which currently has a supernova in it but there was a problem with tracking due to it being near the zenith, so I gave up with it. Instead I had a go at an old favourite, the globular cluster M13 in Hercules. This is what I obtained after 125x15s (31.25 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:47 BST and the last at 00:42 this morning. The astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2. Here is a close up of the object using the unbinned data:-

This cluster has about 500,000 stars in a region which is about 150 light years across. The brightest stars seen are evolved red giants. Going back to the wider field image there is a prominent galaxy to the left of M13 and this is NGC 6207.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026