by Anthony Ayiomamitis
NGC 1342 is a very impressive open cluster in Perseus characterized with 50 to 100 stars and which are well detached from the background sky and without a concentrated core. With an apparent diameter of 15 arc-minutes across, the cluster is dominated by multiple magnitude 8, 9 and 10 stars lying predominantly in a horizontal lane. NGC 1342 lies at a distance of 1,170 light-years away and is estimated to be fairly young at only 450 million years-old. The cluster slightly overlaps the bright nebulae LDN 718 and 719 and as indicated by the traces of nebulosity in the image above. Characterized with a magnitude of 6.7, NGC 1342 was discovered by William Herschel in 1799.
Technical Details:
Date: Oct 20-21, 2009 @ 23:35 - 02:05 UT+3
Location: Athens, Greece (38.2997° N, 23.7430° E)
Equipment: AP 160 f/7.5 StarFire EDF, AP 1200GTO GEM, SBIG ST-10XME, SBIG CFW10, SBIG LRGB + IR-block. LRGB @ 30:30:30:30 (3-/6-min subs), 1x1 binning, -20.0° C
Further details: http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-1342.htm