The gibbous moon prevented snapping anything faint and delicate and I'd had a curiosity about this cluster for a while having failed to capture it in winter when it fell just behind 3ºA. Discovered by John Herschel in 1825, it has stood the test of time and its stars have kept together despite the pull of the milky way. 5000 light years away and above the galactic plane, it has survived 6.8 billion years to tell the tale. Not easy to guide so close to the pole and strange returning an hour later to see the telescope pointing in the same direction.
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| open cluster ngc188 in cepheus 700d on 250p 33x120s @ ISO800 |