NGC 6939
| NGC 6939 | |
|---|---|
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Cepheus |
| Right ascension | 20h 31m 30s[1] |
| Declination | +60° 39′ 42″[1] |
| Distance | 3,860 ly (1,185 pc[2]) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.8 [1] |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 7' |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Estimated age | 2.2 billions years[2] |
| Other designations | Melotte 231 |
NGC 6939 is an open cluster in the constellation Cepheus. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1798. The cluster lies 2/3° northwest from the spiral galaxy NGC 6946. The cluster lies approximately 4.000 light years away and it is over a billion years old.
Observation
NGC 6939 is located near the border of the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus, at the southwest corner of Cepheus. The open cluster is located two degrees southwest of Eta Cephei and 2/3° northwest from the spiral galaxy NGC 6946, which has visual magnitude 8.8. They appear as two patches of haze with 10x50 binoculars. NGC 6939 can be glimsed with 7x35 binocoluars where as 25x200 binocoluras are required to start resolve the cluster.[3] The cluster can be glimsed with 4 inches telescope and is resolved at x72 magnification. NGC 6939 is included in the Herschel 400 Catalogue.[4]
Characteristics
NGC 6939 is an old open cluster, located 400 parsec above the galactic plane and 8.400 parsec away from the galactic centre.[5] With the use of photometric studies, the age of the cluster was estimated to be between 1,0 and 1,3 billion years, using as sample 638 stars within the field. The metallicity of the cluster is slightly subsolar[6] (-0.19±0.09)[7].
Some of its memebers are variable stars: a study in 1998 led to the discovery of six variable stars among the red giants of the cluster, with two of which are Algol type and V466 Cephei appears to be a W Ursae Majoris type. A further study in 2004 indetified further 10 variables near the cluster, five of which were W Ursae Majoris type and one RR Lyrae.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 WEBDA: NGC 6939
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- NGC 6939 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images
