Also known as Caroline’s Rose, the open cluster NGC 7789 shines tonight in Cassiopeia the Queen, a perfect target for our moonless skies.
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January 17: Titan sits near Saturn
New Moon occurs at 2:52 P.M. EST, leaving our skies dark and offering the perfect opportunity to enjoy deep-sky observing. Tonight our target is the open cluster NGC 7789. It is also called Caroline’s Rose for its discoverer, Caroline Herschel, who first spotted it in 1783.
Shining at magnitude 6.7, you’ll find this young cluster of stars in the north near Caph (Beta [β] Cassiopeiae) in Cassiopeia the Queen. From 2nd-magnitude Caph, which appears closest to the ground in the upside-down M shape of the Queen around 9 P.M. local time tonight, NGC 7789 is a short jump to the lower left, about 2.9° south-southwest of Caph.
Spanning about 16’ on the sky, NGC 7789 gets its common name from the way the stars within it appear to form loops in between areas of darkness, looking like the curving petals of a rose as viewed from, above. Although still young, these stars are more than 1 billion years old, making Caroline’s Rose one of the older open clusters in our Milky Way Galaxy.
Sunrise: 7:19 A.M.
Sunset: 5:03 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:32 A.M.
Moonset: 4:54 P.M.
Moon Phase: New
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
