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Uncommon cluster 33 EP

NGC 7538

RA 348.4110° · Dec 61.5124° · openngc

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
33 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Cluster still wrapped in its gas +12
  • Coming towards us +10
  • Star cluster +7
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
Total score 33

1 more point to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star cluster · +7
  • Cluster still wrapped in its gas · +12
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Coming towards us · +10

Trivia

What it actually is

  • What it actually is. A star cluster still wrapped in the nebula that made it — newborn stars lighting up their own birth cloud.

Find it in the sky

  • Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Cepheus.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around September — that's when to go looking.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. The stars are blue-white and brand new; the gas around them glows red, ionised by their ultraviolet glare.

How we came to know it

  • The New General Catalogue. Its NGC number comes from J. L. E. Dreyer's 1888 catalogue, itself built on decades of sky sweeps by William Herschel and his sister Caroline.

Properties

constellation
Cep
dso type
Cl+N
name
NGC 7538
radial velocity kms
-65
size arcmin
8

Nearby objects

About NGC 7538

NGC 7538 is an uncommon cluster. It sits in the constellation Cep.

A star cluster still wrapped in the nebula that made it — newborn stars lighting up their own birth cloud.

How to see it

Look for NGC 7538 in the constellation Cep.

Like any astronomical target, NGC 7538 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why NGC 7538 is an uncommon cluster

NGC 7538 scores 33 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star cluster, Cluster still wrapped in its gas, Never sets (northern circumpolar) and Coming towards us — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.