NGC457 - ET Cluster

 

 NGC457 - the ET Cluster

This used to be known as the Owl cluster until ET became famous. There seem to be 2 beady eyes at the top and a body with wings/arms and legs. The brightest star is φ Cassiopeiae, just under the lower left vertex of the W of Cassiopeia. The cluster is probably plainly visible in binoculars.

Note that I have added a new facility to GRIP to implement Till Credner's colour-preserving processing, as described on his site. The result clearly shows two main types of stars in the photo: blue cluster members and some redder stars.

Canon EOS 5DMkII 254mm Newtonian @2400mm (2x Barlow) f/9.6 ISO6400 22x30s 2011-9-21 20:58:38-21:11:36UT
From Rookhope 54.8N 2.1W 330m asl. Rural, almost no light pollution (3 Bortles)

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