NGC 188 explained

NGC 188
Class:Open Cluster
Epoch:J2000
Ra:[1]
Dist Ly:5,400 ly[2]
Appmag V:10.0[3]
Absmag V:Unknown
Constellation:Cepheus
Notes:One of the oldest known open clusters
Names:Caldwell 1, Cr 6, Mel 2
Age:6.8 billion years

NGC 188 (also known as Caldwell 1 or the Polarissima Cluster[4]) is an open cluster in the constellation Cepheus. It was discovered by John Herschel in 1825.Unlike most open clusters that drift apart after a few million years because of the gravitational interaction of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 188 lies far above the plane of the galaxy and is one of the most ancient of open clusters known, at approximately 6.8 billion years old.[5]

NGC 188 is very close to the North Celestial Pole, under five degrees away, and in the constellation of Cepheus at an estimated 5,000 light-years' distance, this puts it slightly above the Milky Way's disc and further from the center of the galaxy than the Sun.

External links

Notes and References

  1. NGC 188 . 2006-12-08.
  2. Bonatto . C. . Bica . E. . Santos . J. F. C. Jr. . 2005 . Spatial dependence of 2MASS luminosity and mass functions in the old open cluster NGC 188 . . 433 . 3 . 917–929 . astro-ph/0502453 . 2005A&A...433..917B . free . 10.1051/0004-6361:20041113 . free.
  3. Book: Clark, R. N. . 1990 . Visual Astronomy of the Deep Sky . 287 . . 1990vads.book.....C . 978-0-521-36155-2.
  4. Book: Stoyan, Ronald. Schurig. Stephan. interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas. Cambridge University Press; Oculum-Verlag GmbH. Erlangen. 2014. 978-1-107-50338-0. 920437579.
  5. VandenBerg . D. A. . Stetson . P. B. . 2004 . On the Old Open Clusters M67 and NGC 188: Convective Core Overshooting, Color‐Temperature Relations, Distances, and Ages . . 116 . 825 . 997–1011 . 2004PASP..116..997V . free . 10.1086/426340 . free.