NGC 188 also known as Caldwell 1 or the Polarissima Cluster is an open cluster in the constellation Cepheus. It was discovered by John Herschel in 1825. Unlike most open clusters that drift apart after a few million years because of the gravitational interaction of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 188 lies far above the plane of the galaxy and is one of the most ancient of open clusters known, at approximately 6.8 billion years old.
NGC 188 is very close to the North Celestial Pole, under five degrees away, and in the constellation of Cepheus at an estimated 5,000 light-years’ distance, this puts it slightly above the Milky Way’s disc and further from the center of the galaxy than the Sun.
Object Designations: NGC 188, Caldwell 1
Also known as: Polarissima Cluster
Constellation: Cepheus
Object Type: open cluster
Distance: 5400 light-years away
Magnitude: 10
Discovery: John Herschel in 1831
This final image is:
100 – 30 second subs at 100 gain – no filter – 50 minutes of integration
I processed the images using Pixinsight using:
Blink to clear out low quality images
Weighted Batch Balance
SpectroPhotometricCalibration
AutomaticBackgroundExtractor
BlurExterminator
NoiseExterminator
GeneralizedHyperbolicStrectch
ColorCalibration on both versions
StarXTerminator
Curves on both versions using other version as mask
Pixmath to put stars back with both images.
