December 2, 2003
Light takes eight minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. It took the universe 13.8 billion years to make you.
NGC 869 & NGC 884: A Double Open Cluster
Birthday · December 2, 2003
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APOD published December 2, 2003. Credit: Michael Fulbright (MSFAstro.net). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Most star clusters are singularly impressive. Open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884, however, are doubly impressive. Also known as "h and chi Persei", this unusual double cluster, shown above, is bright enough to be seen from a dark location without even binoculars. Although their discovery surely predates written history, the Greek astronomer Hipparchus notably cataloged the "double cluster". The clusters are over 7000 light years distant toward the constellation of Perseus, but are separated by only hundreds of light years.
Image credit: Michael Fulbright (MSFAstro.net)