The sky around NGC 189, 3° across, north up NGC 129 NGC 136 NGC 225 low-power eyepiece, 1° NE 1°
The sky around NGC 189 at true scale, north up and east left, with stars to magnitude 8. The circles show the field of a low-power eyepiece and of 10×50 binoculars.

Collinder 462 · OCL 301

NGC 189

Open cluster in Cassiopeia

Open cluster in Cassiopeia, 4,080 light-years away.

CASSIOPEIA

The box shows where NGC 189 sits in Cassiopeia.

Constellation
CassiopeiaCas
Magnitude
8.8visual
Size
3.7′about 4.4 light-years
Distance
4,080 lylight-years
Best month
Novemberat 9 pm
Best with
Small telescope

NGC 189 is an open cluster in Cassiopeia, 4,080 light-years away

NGC 189 (Collinder 462, OCL 301) is an open cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia, 4,080 light-years away. It shines at magnitude 8.8 and spans 3.7′ of sky, about 4.4 light-years across. It is best in a small telescope, 4 to 6 inches, and it is highest in the evening sky in November.

Open cluster: a loose group of a few dozen to a few thousand young stars born together from one cloud of gas. They drift apart over a few hundred million years and lie in the disk of the Milky Way.

Finding NGC 189 from Tiansi

Tiansi NGC 189 CASSIOPEIA

NGC 189 lies 2.1° west of Tiansi, the magnitude 2.1 star. That is within one binocular field.

NGC 189 is highest in the evening in November

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 60°N JAN at 60°N: 62° high at 9 pm FEB at 60°N: 49° high at 9 pm MAR at 60°N: 40° high at 9 pm APR at 60°N: 34° high at 9 pm MAY at 60°N: 31° high at 9 pm JUN at 60°N: 33° high at 9 pm JUL at 60°N: 39° high at 9 pm AUG at 60°N: 49° high at 9 pm SEP at 60°N: 61° high at 9 pm OCT at 60°N: 75° high at 9 pm NOV at 60°N: 89° high at 9 pm DEC at 60°N: 76° high at 9 pm 50°N JAN at 50°N: 56° high at 9 pm FEB at 50°N: 42° high at 9 pm MAR at 50°N: 32° high at 9 pm APR at 50°N: 24° high at 9 pm MAY at 50°N: 21° high at 9 pm JUN at 50°N: 23° high at 9 pm JUL at 50°N: 30° high at 9 pm AUG at 50°N: 42° high at 9 pm SEP at 50°N: 55° high at 9 pm OCT at 50°N: 69° high at 9 pm NOV at 50°N: 79° high at 9 pm DEC at 50°N: 71° high at 9 pm 40°N JAN at 40°N: 49° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°N: 34° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°N: 23° high at 9 pm APR at 40°N: 14° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°N: 11° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°N: 14° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°N: 22° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°N: 34° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°N: 48° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°N: 62° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°N: 69° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°N: 62° high at 9 pm 30°N JAN at 30°N: 40° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°N: 26° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°N: 14° high at 9 pm APR at 30°N: 5° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°N: 1° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°N: 4° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°N: 12° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°N: 25° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°N: 40° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°N: 53° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°N: 59° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°N: 54° high at 9 pm 20°N JAN at 20°N: 32° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°N: 17° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°N: 5° high at 9 pm APR at 20°N: -5° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°N: -9° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°N: -6° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°N: 3° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°N: 17° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°N: 31° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°N: 43° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°N: 49° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°N: 44° high at 9 pm 10°N JAN at 10°N: 23° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°N: 9° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°N: -4° high at 9 pm APR at 10°N: -15° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°N: -19° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°N: -15° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°N: -6° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°N: 8° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°N: 23° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°N: 34° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°N: 39° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°N: 35° high at 9 pm 0° JAN at 0°: 14° high at 9 pm FEB at 0°: -0° high at 9 pm MAR at 0°: -13° high at 9 pm APR at 0°: -24° high at 9 pm MAY at 0°: -29° high at 9 pm JUN at 0°: -25° high at 9 pm JUL at 0°: -15° high at 9 pm AUG at 0°: -1° high at 9 pm SEP at 0°: 14° high at 9 pm OCT at 0°: 24° high at 9 pm NOV at 0°: 29° high at 9 pm DEC at 0°: 25° high at 9 pm 10°S JAN at 10°S: 5° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°S: -9° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°S: -22° high at 9 pm APR at 10°S: -34° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°S: -39° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°S: -35° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°S: -24° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°S: -9° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°S: 5° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°S: 15° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°S: 19° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°S: 15° high at 9 pm 20°S JAN at 20°S: -4° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°S: -18° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°S: -31° high at 9 pm APR at 20°S: -43° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°S: -49° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°S: -44° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°S: -33° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°S: -18° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°S: -4° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°S: 5° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°S: 9° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°S: 6° high at 9 pm 30°S JAN at 30°S: -13° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°S: -26° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°S: -39° high at 9 pm APR at 30°S: -53° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°S: -59° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°S: -54° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°S: -41° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°S: -27° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°S: -14° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°S: -5° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°S: -1° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°S: -4° high at 9 pm 40°S JAN at 40°S: -22° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°S: -34° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°S: -47° high at 9 pm APR at 40°S: -61° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°S: -69° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°S: -63° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°S: -49° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°S: -35° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°S: -22° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°S: -14° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°S: -11° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°S: -14° high at 9 pm below horizon low 20-40° 40-60° overhead-ish

The chart gives its height above the horizon at 9 pm through the year, from 60°N to 40°S. It can be seen from the whole northern hemisphere and south to about 29°S, and never sets north of 29°N.

NGC 189 is 4,080 light-years away

The light seen from NGC 189 tonight left it about 4,080 years ago. It ranks 18 of 78 by distance among the star clusters on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Gaia DR3, Hunt and Reffert 2023.

Objects within 6° of NGC 189

NGC 189 catalog data

FieldValue
DesignationsCollinder 462, OCL 301
Typeopen cluster
ConstellationCassiopeia
Right ascension (J2000)00h 39.6m
Declination (J2000)+61° 06′
Magnitude8.8
Apparent size3.7′
True size4.4 light-years
Distance4,080 light-years (Gaia DR3, Hunt and Reffert 2023)
Best monthNovember
Best withSmall telescope