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Show the direction and distance to this pair of star clusters on the Galactic Map.

Double Cluster

Sword Handle, Chi/h Persei, C14, NGC 869 & NGC 884

Pair of Open Clusters in Perseus

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Proper Names	Double Cluster, Sword Handle
Bayer Designation	Chi/h Persei
Caldwell Number	C14
NGC/IC Numbers	NGC 884 (Chi Persei) NGC 869 (h Persei)
Constellation	Perseus
Right Ascension	2h 22m 23s (Chi Persei) 2h 19m 0s (h Persei)
Declination	+57° 7' 30" (Chi Persei) +57° 7' 42" (h Persei)
Distance	c. 6,900 light years / c. 2,100 parsecs (Chi Persei) c. 7,200 light years / c. 2,200 parsecs (h Persei)
Magnitude	Apparent: +6.1, Absolute -6.3 (Chi Persei) Apparent: +5.3, Absolute -6.3 (h Persei)
Diameter	Apparent: 18', Actual: 50 light years (Chi Persei) Apparent: 18', Actual: 36 light years (h Persei)
Number of Stars	c. 1,600 (Chi Persei) c. 4,500 (h Persei)
Optimum Visibility	November (Usually visible from northern latitudes)
Notes	This pair of open clusters in the northern fringes of Perseus lie on nearly the same line of sight as seen from Earth, appearing less than half a degree apart. In fact they lie about three hundred light years from one another, with the western h Persei cluster being the nearer of the two to the Solar System.

The Double Cluster is composed of two distinct open clusters of stars. To the east (left) is Chi Persei or NGC 884, the more distant of the two clusters, while to the west (right) is h Persei or NGC 869. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas

Relative Galactic Position of the Double Cluster

The Galactic position of the Double Cluster, Chi/h Persei. The h cluster is a little nearer to Earth than the Chi element, but on the scale of this diagram, the two clusters effectively occupy the same space.

A famous pairing of relatively bright open clusters in the constellation of Perseus. Both clusters are distant from Earth (at more than 6,000 light years).

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