When is the best time to observe NGC 659?

NGC 659 is best observed from September through November, with peak visibility during October when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 659 located in the sky?

NGC 659 lies in the constellation Cassiopeia at right ascension 01h 44m and declination +60° 40′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 659?

At magnitude 7.9, NGC 659 is easy in 7×50 or 10×50 binoculars.

NGC 659 — Open Cluster in Cassiopeia

Open Cluster Good (51/100)

Magnitude 7.9^m OpenCluster Cassiopeia (Cas) Visible

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1Properties

Magnitude 7.9

Angular Size 4.2′

Description

Cl, lRi, st B

Position & Identifiers

RA 01h 44m 23.0s

Dec +60° 40' 09.1"

Constellation Cassiopeia (Cas)

Catalog NGC 659

Physical size

13 light-years across — about 1.5× 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

Medium on Seestar S50

At 150mm under B5 skies you should resolve about 22 of 138 members.

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Sep – Nov (peak: Oct)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

NGC 659 · 4.2′ 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.