NGC 7142, NGC 7129, Struve 2843 & Pothier 4 in Cepheus
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NGC 7142 and Neighbors
The area around the Herschel 400 Open Cluster, NGC 7142, is wonderfully complex. NGC
7142 is big but dim and has no bright stars. Still its presence is easily noticed as a patch of
uniform starlight with dim stars winking in and out of one’s vision. The Small Cluster Nebula,
NGC 7129, rests above it -- a bit to the west. This small young cluster of only ten, or so,
stars is illuminating a reflection nebula at its center.
Interesting enough, the most dominant feature in the eyepiece view is a bright collection of
stars called Pothier 4. Since it is a Telescopic Asterism, few star maps or atlases show it,
but through the eyepiece, it really stands out. The bright double-star Struve 2843 is the
brightest of several double-stars in the field-of-view.
The drawing was done using a magnification of 52x, while details of NGC 7142 and NGC
7129 were added using 84x.
7142 is big but dim and has no bright stars. Still its presence is easily noticed as a patch of
uniform starlight with dim stars winking in and out of one’s vision. The Small Cluster Nebula,
NGC 7129, rests above it -- a bit to the west. This small young cluster of only ten, or so,
stars is illuminating a reflection nebula at its center.
Interesting enough, the most dominant feature in the eyepiece view is a bright collection of
stars called Pothier 4. Since it is a Telescopic Asterism, few star maps or atlases show it,
but through the eyepiece, it really stands out. The bright double-star Struve 2843 is the
brightest of several double-stars in the field-of-view.
The drawing was done using a magnification of 52x, while details of NGC 7142 and NGC
7129 were added using 84x.