Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Bright Clusters for Binoculars (evening)

Tuesday night, August 6 will be a fine time to grab your binoculars and view three large open star clusters that occupy the southern sky between the bright stars Altair and Cebalrai. The Summer Beehive Cluster aka IC 4665 is a loose collection of stars centered just 1 degree northeast of Cebalrai. Its white stars, which are spread across an area more than twice the diameter of the moon, host several reddish intruders. Next, aim your binoculars midway between Cebalrai and Altair and look for two patches of stars sharing the same binoculars field of view. The smaller, but brighter Tweedledum Cluster (or NGC 6633) is centered several degrees to the northwest of the larger, but fainter Graff?s Cluster (or IC 4756). It?s fun to count each cluster?s stars and note the various star colors and the patterns the stars are arranged in.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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