NGC 146

NGC 146
Location of NGC 146
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Right ascension00h 33m 03.9s
Declination+63° 18′ 32″
Distance9.7 ± 1.1 kly (2.98 ± 0.33 kpc)
Apparent magnitude (V)9.1
Physical characteristics
Estimated age20 Myr
Other designationsCr 5, OCl 299, C 0030+630
Associations
ConstellationCassiopeia
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

NGC 146 is a small open cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by John Herschel in 1829 using his father's 18.7 inch reflecting telescope.

Location

κ Cassiopeiae, NGC 146 and NGC 133 in optical light

NGC 146 is fairly easy to locate in the sky, being half a degree away from the bright star Kappa Cassiopeiae. However, spotting the cluster itself is difficult because of its low apparent magnitude of 9.1. Its relatively high declination of about 63° means it is not visible for below 27° S. Its distance is estimated at about 3,000 parsecs (10,000 light years) away.

NGC 146 is close to the open cluster King 14, both being located in the Perseus Arm. The two clusters follow similar circular orbits throughout the Milky Way's thin disk, orbiting at a distance of 9,000 parsecs (29,000 light-years) from the Galactic Center with an orbital period of about 255 million years. The two likely originated from the same giant molecular cloud but are not gravitationally bound to each other.

Characteristics

The cluster is fairly young, as there are numerous B-type and A-type main sequence stars and pre-main-sequence stars but relatively few evolved supergiants. Among its most massive stars are two Herbig Be stars.

References

  1. 1 2 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 0146. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bisht, D.; Jiang, Ing-Guey; Elsanhoury, W. H.; Belwal, K.; Çinar, D. C.; Raj, A.; Biswas, Shraddha; Dattatrey, Arvind K.; Rangwal, Geeta; Sariya, Devesh P.; Bisht, Mohit Singh; Durgapal, Alok (2026). "Dynamical and Photometric Analysis of NGC 146 and King 14: Evidence for a Comoving, Unbound Cluster Pair". The Astronomical Journal. 171 (2): 72. arXiv:2512.03552. Bibcode:2026AJ....171...72B. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ae285b.
  3. 1 2 "NGC 146". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Catalogo NGC/IC online - result for NGC 146". Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ "WEBDA page for open cluster NGC 146".
  6. ↑ Subramaniam, A.; Sahu, D. K.; Sagar, R.; Vijitha, P. (September 2005). "NGC 146: a young open cluster with a Herbig Be star and intermediate mass pre-main sequence stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 440 (2): 511–522. arXiv:astro-ph/0505314. Bibcode:2005A&A...440..511S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20052683. S2CID 14909422.

Further reading