- M 34 (NGC 1039)
M 34 is a relatively small, bright open cluster lying below the stream of the Milky Way in the constellation Perseus. The cluster was discovered by Messier in 1764, but may have been seen by Hodierna before 1654. M 34 contains around 100 stars down to magnitude 16 but, as my image shows, there are about two dozen that are visually bright. This open cluster is fairly close to us, at a distance of around 1600 LY. Its visual magnitude of 5.2 means that, under good sky conditions, it should be visible to the naked eye. As shown in my figure, M 34 contains several close double stars. It is uncertain whether these are true physical doubles.
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