NGC 457

Open Star Cluster in the Constellation Cassiopeia

NGC 457 is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. It contains nearly one hundred stars and lies over 9,000 light years away from us. The cluster is sometimes referred as the Owl Cluster, or the ET Cluster, due to its resemblance to the movie character.

Image Details:

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  • Instrument: TMB 152 Triplet APO Refractor @ f/7.9 (1200mm) focal length
  • Mount: MI-250 GoTo
  • Image Scale:  1.7 arc-seconds/pixel
  • Filters & Exposure Times:  
    • L:  10 x 2 minutes binned 1 x 1
    • R:    5 x 2 minutes binned 2 x 2
      G:    5 x 2 minutes binned 2 x 2
      B:    5 x 2 minutes binned 2 x 2 
  • Camera: SBIG ST-2000XM with CFW8 LRGB Color Filter Wheel
  • Software: Maxim DL/CCD, Adobe Photoshop CS2, RC Astro Gradient X-Terminator, Neat Image Pro
  • Location: Little Rock, AR., El. 300ft
  • Date: November 25th, 2006