Caldwell 28 / NGC 752

Overview

Caldwell 28 (NGC 752) is a sprawling open cluster located in the constellation Andromeda, approximately 1,300 light-years from Earth. Estimated to be around 1.9 billion years old, it is among the older open clusters, offering a glimpse into the evolutionary stages of such stellar groupings. NGC 752 contains roughly 60 stars, many of which are bright and easily visible through binoculars or small telescopes. Its members include a mix of giant stars and main-sequence stars, making it a valuable target for studying stellar evolution. This cluster is relatively large and diffuse, appearing more as a loose grouping of stars rather than a compact cluster, and it provides a striking contrast against the background sky.

While I couldn’t quite eliminate the gradient on the right edge, I’ll certainly say that the open cluster Caldwell 28 makes for some beautiful stellar glitter. What a gorgeous collection of stars that, while mostly low-mass main sequence stars and red giants, they really “pop” against the sky.

This project combines 22hrs of LRGB data captured over the holiday week using my ES127.