Trumpler 1 & Czernik 4 -- Open Clusters in Cassiopeia
Trumpler 1 was the smallest of the five Open Clusters belonging to the lop-sided circle that I
observed on December 16, 2017. I had seen Trumpler 1 before at low power, but I had never
really observed it. Trumpler 1 was the surprise of the night. Once I upped the magnification on
the 3.0’ sized cluster, the tight line of 4 stars on one side and the elongated collection of stars
on the other side of the cluster made an amazing sight. Had I not intended to draw the cluster, I
would likely have never observed it at a higher magnification and would have never known what
I was missing. The Open Cluster Czernik 4 is somewhat of a mystery to me. I did not include it
in my circle of Open Clusters that evening since it does not look, to me, like a cluster of stars.
Except for the bright orange-colored star at its center it would not stand out at all. The apparent
size given for Czernik 4 is larger than the size given for Trumpler 1. I cannot find much about
Czernik 4 except that it is listed as having 10 stars. Compare that with Trumpler 1 which has
112 stars. I figure if you are going to view Trumpler 1 (and it is really worth a look at higher
power), you might as well take a second to locate the orange star at the center of Czernik 4
(just to say you have seen it).
observed on December 16, 2017. I had seen Trumpler 1 before at low power, but I had never
really observed it. Trumpler 1 was the surprise of the night. Once I upped the magnification on
the 3.0’ sized cluster, the tight line of 4 stars on one side and the elongated collection of stars
on the other side of the cluster made an amazing sight. Had I not intended to draw the cluster, I
would likely have never observed it at a higher magnification and would have never known what
I was missing. The Open Cluster Czernik 4 is somewhat of a mystery to me. I did not include it
in my circle of Open Clusters that evening since it does not look, to me, like a cluster of stars.
Except for the bright orange-colored star at its center it would not stand out at all. The apparent
size given for Czernik 4 is larger than the size given for Trumpler 1. I cannot find much about
Czernik 4 except that it is listed as having 10 stars. Compare that with Trumpler 1 which has
112 stars. I figure if you are going to view Trumpler 1 (and it is really worth a look at higher
power), you might as well take a second to locate the orange star at the center of Czernik 4
(just to say you have seen it).