NGC 7686 -- Open Cluster in Andromeda
NGC 7686 is a large bright collection of stars. It is centered around the 6.5 magnitude star
HD 221246. NGC 7686 is listed in the Herschel 400, so it is often visited by amateur
astronomers.
All, but one, of my sources identify NGC 7686 as an Open Cluster. However, in the highly-
respected reference on Open Clusters, “Star Clusters” by Archinal & Hynes they state that
it is “… probably not a cluster”. The view of NGC 7686 in my 110mm Refractor appears
like an Open Cluster to me. With 80-plus stars crammed within a 15-arcminute space, it
hard for me to visualize that it is just a chance alignment of independent stars. Usually, I
struggle with just the opposite issue where I have a known Open Cluster centered in my
eyepiece and I can’t see how it differs from the surrounding star fields. Looking at
NGC 7686 it screams Open Cluster
.
It is a mystery that I am not able to resolve. All that I can say is that it is a worth while
collection of stars to observe and enjoy.
HD 221246. NGC 7686 is listed in the Herschel 400, so it is often visited by amateur
astronomers.
All, but one, of my sources identify NGC 7686 as an Open Cluster. However, in the highly-
respected reference on Open Clusters, “Star Clusters” by Archinal & Hynes they state that
it is “… probably not a cluster”. The view of NGC 7686 in my 110mm Refractor appears
like an Open Cluster to me. With 80-plus stars crammed within a 15-arcminute space, it
hard for me to visualize that it is just a chance alignment of independent stars. Usually, I
struggle with just the opposite issue where I have a known Open Cluster centered in my
eyepiece and I can’t see how it differs from the surrounding star fields. Looking at
NGC 7686 it screams Open Cluster
.
It is a mystery that I am not able to resolve. All that I can say is that it is a worth while
collection of stars to observe and enjoy.