NGC 1502

Also Known as: Cr 45

Object Type: Open Cluster

Constellation: Camelopardalis

Distance from Earth: 3,452 Light years

Apparent Magnitude: 6.0

Coordinates: RA 04H 07M 48.96S DEC 62deg 19min 55.2sec

Actual Size: 11 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 9.7 arc-minutes

Discovered by: The open cluster was discovered on 3 November 1787 by William Herschel using his 18.7 inch reflecting telescope.
He cataloged it as VII 47 and noted: «A cluster of stars, pretty rich and considerably compressed, little extended 3 or 4' diameter, of irregular figure.»
John L. E. Dreyer cataloged the cluster in 1888 as NGC 1502

Description: NGC 1502 is a moderately reddened open cluster located at the periphery of the Cam OB1 association and probably within the Orion Spur, with published distance estimates varying between 0.7 and 1.5 kpc.
It is a very young cluster, with an almost vertical main sequence. It could be an example of a disrupting or expanding unstable cluster, with a large size and a small core.
The cluster contains the earlytype eclipsing binary SZ Cam (HD 25638), which is one of the components of the visual double star representing the brightest members of the cluster.
NGC 1502 is a young open cluster of approximately 60 stars in the constellation Camelopardalis.
This cluster is located at a distance of approximately 3,500 light years from the Sun, at the outer edge of the Cam OB1 association of co-moving stars, and is likely part of the Orion Arm.
NGC 1502 is thought to be a member of the Camelopardalis OB1 association, together with to other open clusters, NGC 957 and NGC 1444. All three clusters are small, sparsely populated groups of stars, that feature one or more luminous giants of the B0/B1 II or III giants in double or multiple systems.
These three clusters are probably more like enriched multiple star systems rather than true open clusters.
The asterism known as Kemble's Cascade appears to "flow" into NGC 1502, but this is just a chance alignment of stars.
The Trumpler class of NGC 1502 is II3p, indicating poorly populated cluster of stars (p) with a wide brightness range.
The main sequence turnoff point is not well-defined, so the age estimates range from five to fifteen million years.
It is heavily reddened due to interstellar dust. One of the brightest candidate members of the cluster is the eclipsing binary SZ Cam, which is a component of a visual double star ADS 2984.
There are eleven variable stars and four candidate variables among the cluster members, including a β Cep, two periodic B-type variables, 2–3 eclipsing variables, and an RR Lyrae star.
Five members of the cluster are chemically peculiar.
It is about 5 million years old.

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

It has a visual magnitude of 6.0 and thus is dimly visible to the naked eye.
NGC 1502 is easy to locate. In a small telescope you can see the cluster as a very faint and fuzzy patch of light at the end of Kemble's Cascade.
The cluster is bright and well detached from the background. All stars look more or less white.

The best time to observe it is from September to March, when the circumpolar constellation is at its highest in the sky.

Platesolve

NGC 1502 Open Cluster

Imaging Details
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