NGC 6819 -- Open Cluster in Cygnus
The Fox Head Cluster
The Fox head Cluster, NGC 6819, is a small but dense Open Cluster in the constellation
Cygnus. This was another of Caroline Herschel’s finds. She found it on May 12, 1784. I
find this a pleasant looking cluster. Except for a couple of slightly brighter stars, the cluster
consists of a uniform collection of dim stars, many of which are on the edge of resolution
with my six-inch refractor.
Unlike so many of the open clusters in Cygnus that are in the thick background star-fields
of the Milky Way, NGC 6819 appears relatively isolated and thus stands out clearly in the
eyepiece as a distinctive, dense, concentrated group of faint stars. I find this Open Cluster
quite attractive, even though I have never figured out how anyone can make it into
something resembling a fox’s head.
Cygnus. This was another of Caroline Herschel’s finds. She found it on May 12, 1784. I
find this a pleasant looking cluster. Except for a couple of slightly brighter stars, the cluster
consists of a uniform collection of dim stars, many of which are on the edge of resolution
with my six-inch refractor.
Unlike so many of the open clusters in Cygnus that are in the thick background star-fields
of the Milky Way, NGC 6819 appears relatively isolated and thus stands out clearly in the
eyepiece as a distinctive, dense, concentrated group of faint stars. I find this Open Cluster
quite attractive, even though I have never figured out how anyone can make it into
something resembling a fox’s head.