Square of Cassiopeia
By Shawn Grant
Cassiopeia the queen rides high in the sky in the fall and winter months. The constellation makes the familiar and prominent shape of a "W". There is a treasure trove of deep sky wonders in this familiar region of the sky. Gamma, Alpha, Beta, and Kappa form an asterism that makes a square. Within this square there are several open clusters and nebula.
We start our tour at the star g Cassiopeia. This is an erratic variable that varies from 1.6 to 3.0 magnitude. About 20' north of Gamma are two emission nebula called IC 59 and IC 63. IC 59 is 10' X 5' in size and fairly faint. IC 63 is a little smaller than IC 59 at 10' X 3' in size. The trick to these nebulas is a dark sky and a nebula filter is a great plus also move Gamma out of the field.
About a degree to the northeast of Gamma is a great open cluster called NGC 381. NGC 381 is fairly bright, large and rich. The cluster stands out well against the rest of the background. It has a somewhat irregular shape somewhat elongated. Well worth a look at.
NGC 225 is a cluster that has an unusual shape; to me it looks like a boomerang. NGC 225 is about 2 degrees to the northwest of Gamma. It is fairly large, somewhat bright and rich. The cluster is well detached with a nice chain of 8th mag stars running north to south on the eastern edge of the cluster.
About 20' to the west is a tiny open cluster Stock 24. The cluster is fairly detached. The stars range from 11th to 13th magnitude. The cluster has a distinct triangular shape to it.
A little less than a degree to the South is NGC 189. This is an open cluster that is detached, somewhat small and loose. A degree to the northwest is a fine open cluster NGC 136. The cluster is small round and faint. I noted some 13th magnitude stars with some background haze, a pretty sight.
About 40' to the west of NGC 136 and a degree to the south of 12 Cassiopeia is the open cluster NGC 103. 103 is a very nice cluster. It is well detached with a nice linear shape to it. The stars ranged from 12th magnitude to the very limit of my 13".
A little over a degree from NGC103 lies the cluster NGC 129. The cluster is large, bright and somewhat rich although the stars are spread out and hard to depict from the rest of the star field. There are three 9th magnitude stars that form a triangle.
Point your telescope to the 4.2 magnitude star Kappa Cassiopeia. 20' to the north is a lovely trio of
open clusters NGC 146, NGC 133 and King 14. NGC 146 is the northeastern most of the three. It is about 6' in diameter and elongated. The cluster is fairly bright sparse but stands out well against the background. NGC 133 is the most northwestern most. The cluster is about 7' in diameter. It is very loose and not well detached. There are three fairly bright stars lined in a row that dominate the cluster.
I hear several people day in and day out tell me if it isn't a Messier or an NGC object it is no good. It is true there are many nice Messier and NGC objects but there are others. King 14 the southern most cluster of the trio is one of the others. King 14 is larger than NGC 146 and NGC 133 at the size of 10'. The cluster is irregular or elongated. It is bright loose but not to loose. It does stand out very well against the sky background. There is no central concentration but there is some compression. All three clusters and Kappa Cassiopeia stand out well with a wide-angle eyepiece. King 14 is the most dominant cluster in the field.
There are many other objects within this area Mayer 1, Berk 60, Stock 20, and King 15 are all worth checking out. This area is packed full and a night can be devoted to this area. One object I am curious about and did not get achance to observe is IC 10. TheSky list this galaxy with a magnitude 10 and MegaStar list it as 11.8. Either magnitude it should be visible in an 8-inch or more. It is 5' X 4' in size so it could have a low surface brightness. It is an irregular galaxy and very peculiar looking when I viewed it on the Palomar Sky Survey. This is indeed a very interesting galaxy and worth a look at. If you observe this galaxy let me know I am very curious on observations of this galaxy.