# 16 Grand Tour heads to Cepheus

 29th September 2021

 At this time of year the constellation of Cepheus lies overhead in the evening so it seemed a good opportunity to take a tour.

NGC 7510

NGC 7510   Striking wedge shaped open cluster that stands out from the field stars. About 4'  in size  and magnitude 8  it lies right on the border with Cassiopeia. It lies about 11,400 ly away in the Perseus spiral arm and is around 10 million years old.

 NGC 6939   Very rich magnitude 8 open cluster about7' across. Apparently it is over 1 billion years old and is about 4000ly distant.

NGC 7023

NGC 7023   The"Iris Nebula" is a reflection nebula surrounding the 7th magnitude star SAO 19158.  My image shows only the brighter  inner parts of the 18' diameter nebula. Blue colour is evident as well as a lot of structure. It is about 6 light years across and 1300 ly away.

NGC 6946

NGC 6946  I  was not aware that Cepheus contained any bright galaxies so this beautiful face on spiral was a surprise. Multiple spiral arms emanate from a relatively small nucleus. Lots of structure can be seen including blue star forming regions and dark dust lanes. Its diameter is around 40,000 ly and lies 25 million ly away, just beyond our Local Group. This galaxy is notable for hosting ten supernovae over the last 100 years, more than seen in any other Galaxy

NGC 436

NGC 436   Small, rich magnitude 8.8 open cluster in Cassiopeia. Brightest stars make a similar wedge pattern to NGC 7510 observed earlier.

 And with this little jaunt over to Cassiopeia the observing session ended as the clouds rolled in. NGC 436 brings my Grand Tour total up to 137.