NGC 1502

Historical observations

William Herschel (c.1784)

Synonyms:H VII-047

Discovered in 1787 by William Herschel with an 18.7-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He called it "a cluster of stars, pretty rich and considerably compressed, slightly extended, 3' or 4' diameter, irregular figure."

This cluster is possibly associated with the Cam OB1 association.

Published comments

Trumpler, R.J. (1928)

Trumpler (Lick Obs. Bulletin, Vol 14, No 420) gives the diameter as 8' and the class as 2 3 p.

Photo index

Photo Index by Jim Lucyk: Astronomy mag. 1/87 p102, Burnhams V2 p329.

Sulentic & Tifft (1973)

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a 5.5 mag open cluster.

Modern observations

Walter Scott Houston

Houston notes that to the northwest of this binocular cluster lies Harrington 3, also known as Kemble's Cascade. He calls it a moderately rich cluster, and notes that a small telescope will reveal about a score of stars within a triangular area 7' across. Included is the bright double Struve 485, which has components of mag 7 and 7.1 separated by 18 arcseconds.

Ancient City Astron.Club (1980)

Listed by the Herschel Club, described as "7' in size, double stars situated towards centre of the group of some 15 stars, compact, resembles a cross-bow, triangular in shape. 6-inch, 48x."

Harrington, Phil (1990)

Phil Harrington (1990, Touring the Universe through Binoculars) calls it a "bright, easy-to-see but hard-to-locate open cluster ... it may be glimpsed on crystalline evenings as a hazy glow ... Binoculars reveal its richness as a misty circular patch of light sprinkled with four 8th mag suns."

Gross, Todd (IAAC)

Observer: Todd Gross Your skill: Intermediate Date and UT of observation: 11/5/97 0800 GMT Location & latitude: 22 miles west of Boston, Ma. 42.3N Site classification: Suburban Limiting magnitude (visual): 5.2 (estimated) 5.2 (est) in vicinity of object Seeing (1 to 10 - worst-best): 8 Moon up (phase?): No Weather: Clear Instrument: 16" Newtonian-dob w. 96/99% coatings f/4.59 Magnifications: 124x, plus 236x w. binoviewer Filters used: none Object: NGC 1502 Constellation: Object data: Open Cluster Personal "rating" (at this aperture): B/B+ "This is a fascinating, and exciting open cluster, very close to the ring planetary NGC 1501. The cluster is mostly very bright stars - a couple of dozen perhaps. It is roughly trapezoidal in shape, or even somewhat elliptical. However, if you use your imagination.. you can almost see a pattern that gives the impression of action such as a running man. There is a distinctly yellow, fairly tight double star near the center which makes this object more interesting."

Tom Lorenzin

Tom Lorenzin, in the electronic version of "1000+ The Amateur Astronomers' Field Guide to Deep Sky Observing", notes: "8' diameter; 25-plus members; irregular; 2 DBL STs include: Struve 484 (18" separation; 6-6M) and Struve 484 (5.3" separation; 9-9M); N1502 is at the SE end of a 3 degree-long chain of stars known as "KEMBLE'S CASCADE"."

Steve Gottlieb

& Cr 45 & OCL-383 & Lund 124

04 07.8 +62 20

13: bright, striking cluster, 40 stars visible in a trapezoidal outline. The brightest is the striking double ...485 = 7.0/7.1 at 18" and the cluster also includes ...484 = 9.0/9.5 at 5". Located near the SE end of chain of stars "Kemble's Cascade".

Brian Skiff

25cm - br dbl in center w/15 others. 5' diam.

30cm - 35 *s in 8' area. nice, br 50" pair in pa130 nr center. lacing of br *s w/a dozen m9.5 *s.

Contemporary observations

Magda Streicher

2006 December 15

Alldays

12-inch f/10 SCT (76x, 218x)

Conditions: Good

Seeing the fact that this cluster is vertuly on the brink of the northern hemosphere for me I was quite surprise to count 10 stars in this lovely outstanding and bright cluster. The NW side of the cluster seems busier. A double star graze the middle part and a few arc minutes on the west side a double star show me the way to Kembles Arcade which I could follow for almost a degree to the NW. Through my binoculars I trace the string west and could see NGC 1502 as a faint haze. This is probably one of my most northern object I could make meats end of.

Tom Bryant

2010 4 1 20:43:53

Observing site: Little Tycho Observatory

Telescope: C-8

[4h 7m 42s, 62° 20m 0s] A brilliant cluster of doubles, with a superb pair in the center.

2009 12 29 21:9:0

Observing site: Little Tycho Observatory

Telescope: C-8

[4h 7m 42s, 62° 20m 0s] Bright cluster of ~ 20 stars, most of them double, contains the brilliant pair Struve 485.