Sky & Telescope - USA (2020-01)

skyandtelescope.com • JANUARY 2020 65

eight. It’s a little more than ½° long, so it’s best viewed at low
power. I can even make it out in binoculars. I can also see it
as an ampersand (&), or a musical treble clef, but I think it’s
coolest to think of it as an analemma.
The M-Thirty-Somethings are also reliable winter spec-
tacles. I’m talking about the string of four open clusters that
extend from the feet of Gemini into the circle of Auriga.
They start with M35 at Castor’s toe and run through M37
and M36 to M38 in the center of Auriga. (Yes, they’re out of
order. Talk to Charles Messier about that.) Of the four, my
favorite is M35 because of little NGC 2158 next to it. Both
are open clusters, but while M35 is big and showy, NGC 2158
is much smaller and fainter. Seeing them both in the same
fi eld really provides a 3D effect, as NGC 2158 recedes
way into the background. M38 also has a little cluster,
NGC 1907, next to it.
Moving on through Auriga to the west brings you to
NGC 1664, also known as the Kite Cluster. This open cluster
sports a loose diamond of stars that stands out well from
the background, and an equally visible long tail that makes
it look amazingly like a kite. There’s even
a smaller line of stars opposite the tail
that looks like the kite string, and to the
northwest there’s a straight line of stars
that could be the ground if the kite is
fl ying along sideways. This is a must-see
cluster any night it’s up. I can also see
this one as a manta ray gliding along over
the ocean bottom.
Farther to the west of Auriga lies
a wonderful naked-eye spectacle: the
Alpha Persei Cluster, also known as
Collinder 39 or Melotte 20. The con-
stellation of Perseus is dominated by a wide scattering of
blue-white stars, the brightest of which — Alpha (α) Persei
itself, also known as Mirfak — anchors the center of the
constellation. What’s neat about this group is that it’s a true
cluster of stars; it’s just so close to us (600 light-years) and
it’s old enough that it’s scattered across several degrees of
sky. Most of the stars you see here were born together
50 million years ago and are still moving through
space together. This cluster is far too wide to
appreciate even in binoculars; just lean back and
admire this one by naked eye.
Moving farther north, just inside the middle
bend of Cassiopeia’s W, look for NGC 457, the
Dragonfl y Cluster, a gangly splotch of stars
streaming away from two bright luminaries.
This is one of those objects that always elicits
an “Oh, wow!” at star parties, and it never fails
to make me smile when I look at it myself. It’s
a gorgeous dragonfl y fl uttering around out there
in space, with two big glowing eyes and wide-swept
wings that sparkle just like the wings of a dragonfl y
in bright sunlight. This cluster also counts among its

M35

M36

M37

M38

1907

1664

α

β

β

ε

ε

η

ι

μ

θ

ζ

AURIGA

PERSEUS

TAURUS

GEMINI

Capella

5 h

+30°

+40°

6 h 4 h

2158

η

St

ar

m

ag

ni

tu

de

s

2

1

3

4

5

6

uAT THE FOOT OF THE TWINS

M35 is bright and showy with a

distinctive arc of stars in the middle,

plus it has a fainter, more delicate

companion, NGC 2158, to the south-

west. FOV=1°

qCAN YOU SPOT THE KITE?

NGC 1664, the Kite Cluster, re-

ally does look like a kite swooping

through the Milky Way. FOV=30′

N

NGC 2158

N