When is the best time to observe NGC 1245?

NGC 1245 is best observed from October through December, with peak visibility during November when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 1245 located in the sky?

NGC 1245 lies in the constellation Perseus at right ascension 03h 15m and declination +47° 14′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 1245?

At magnitude 8.4, NGC 1245 is within reach of a 3-inch (80 mm) telescope from a moderate-Bortle site.

NGC 1245 — Open Cluster in Perseus

Open Cluster Good (53/100)

Magnitude 8.4^m OpenCluster Perseus (Per) Visible

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1Properties

Magnitude 8.4

Angular Size 11.4′

Description

Cl, pL, Ri, C, iR, st 12...15

Position & Identifiers

RA 03h 14m 41.5s

Dec +47° 14' 19.3"

Constellation Perseus (Per)

Catalog NGC 1245

Physical size

35 light-years across — about 4.0× the Sun-to-Sirius distance

2How easy to spot?

Telescope	Bortle 3	Bortle 4	Bortle 5
80 mm refractor 80mm refr.	Easy	Easy	Easy
150 mm Newton 150mm Newt.	Easy	Easy	Easy
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Easy	Easy	Easy

Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

Bortle 3 = rural · 4 = outer suburbs · 5 = suburbs

Easy on Seestar S50

At 150mm under B5 skies you should resolve about 43 of 479 members.

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Oct – Dec (peak: Nov)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

NGC 1245 · 11.4′ diameter

5 Best Magnification

6Where this cluster sits in time

Open clusters span more than four orders of magnitude in age — from newborn OB associations to ancient, metal-rich survivors.

7 Colour-Magnitude Diagram

A cluster's colour-magnitude diagram reveals its age: the bluer the turn-off point where the main sequence bends into red giants, the younger the cluster.

Loading member data…

Each point is a Gaia-DR3 member. Colour encodes spectral type; size reflects membership probability.