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Credit & Copyright: Neven Krcmarek
Explanation:
The New General Catalog of star clusters and nebulae really isn't so new.
In fact, it was published in 1888 - an effort by
J. L. E. Dreyer
to consolidate the work of astronomers
William,
Caroline, and
John Herschel
along with others into a useful single, complete catalog of
astronomical discoveries and measurements.
Dreyer's work was largely successful and is still important today, as
this famous catalog continues
to lend its "NGC" to bright clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.
Take for example the star cluster known as NGC 188
(item number 188 in the NGC compilation).
It lies about 6,000 light-years distant in the northern constellation
Cepheus and represents a galactic or
open star cluster.
With an age of about 7 billion years,
NGC 188 is old for
an open cluster.
Its old, evolved red giant stars
have yellowish hues in
this colorful, deep sky view.
NGC 188 also enjoys the designation
Caldwell 1
in a modern compilation of deep sky objects.
Located well above the plane of the Milky Way
and seen in the direction of planet Earth's north celestial pole,
the ancient stellar group is known to some as the
Polarissima Cluster.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: galactic cluster
Publications with words: galactic cluster
See also: