Open Cluster Messier 29

Messier 29
Messier 29: Section of the STScI Digitized Sky Survey [147]

Object Description

This small and rather inconspicuous open star cluster was discovered by Charles Messier in July 1764. It is located in an area of the Milky Way with high levels of dust, which causes a darkening of around 3 magnitudes. W. A. Hiltner found out in 1954 that the density of the dust within the cluster was about a factor of 1000 above the galactic mean. The brightest members are all B-type stars. The stellar population resembles the much closer cluster M 36 in Auriga. [4]

The removal of M 29 is described in the «Catalogue of Open Cluster Data (COCD)», Kharchenko et al. 2005 [257] with 1148 pc (3744 ly) and the age with logt = 7.12 (107.12 ≈ 13 million years). Similar values are found in WEBDA [138].

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
DesignationNGC 6913
TypeOCL (III3p)
Right Ascension (J2000.0)20h 24m 06.0s
Declination (J2000.0)+38° 29' 36"
Diameter10 arcmin
Visual magnitude6.6 mag
Metric Distance1.148 kpc
Dreyer DescriptionCl, P, lC, st L and S
Identification, RemarksM 29, OCL 168

Finder Chart

The open cluster M 29 is located in the constellation Cygnus. The best observing time is March to December.

Finder Chart Open Cluster Messier 29
Open Cluster Messier 29 in constellation Cygnus. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

More Objects Nearby (±15°)

References