Messier 34

Messier 34 (also known as NGC 1039 ) is a medium-sized open cluster with an angular diameter of 35 'and an apparent magnitude of 5.2 mag. He stands in the constellation Perseus on the border of Andromeda, about halfway between the stars Algol ( β Per) and Alamak ( γ And).

Since M34 contains only about 100 stars, which extend over more than a full moon width, this accumulation of stars is relatively inconspicuous. Messier was in 1764 a diameter of only 17 ' at. In binoculars to identify 8 × 30 just as delicate star small groups, a dozen stars show off 10 × 50 in the visual field. In the telescope, however, the star clusters from 50 -fold magnification seems increasingly absent-minded. Unusual is the low variance of the brightness and the many double stars.