When is the best time to observe NGC 7160?

NGC 7160 is best observed from July through September, with peak visibility during August when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 7160 located in the sky?

NGC 7160 lies in the constellation Cepheus at right ascension 21h 54m and declination +62° 36′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 7160?

At magnitude 6.1, NGC 7160 is easy in 7×50 or 10×50 binoculars.

NGC 7160 — Open Cluster in Cepheus

Open Cluster Good (54/100)

Magnitude 6.1^m OpenCluster Cepheus (Cep) Visible

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1Properties

Magnitude 6.1

Angular Size 4.2′

Description

Cl, P, vlC

Position & Identifiers

RA 21h 53m 42.0s

Dec +62° 36' 00.0"

Constellation Cepheus (Cep)

Catalog NGC 7160

Physical size

3.6 light-years across — comparable to the Sun's nearest-neighbour 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 20 of 45 members.

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Jul – Sep (peak: Aug)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

NGC 7160 · 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.