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- salutations celestial sight seers i'm david fuller from eyes on the sky. ngc 663 is a
- wonderful grouping of stars that... well according to some people's imaginations looks a bit like a
- lawn mower. and if the orientation in a telescope is correct and you squint the right way it kind of
- does! but more on that later. this open cluster located in cassiopeia is fascinating because
- it not only is 400 stars strong it contains a rather large group of a certain kind of stars
- called Be stars that show a specific spectral line of hydrogen and they are generally smaller
- often hotter stars too. helpfully for us in the entire cluster there are about two dozen stars
- that are from 8th to 10th magnitude and another 3 dozen to 12 magnitude. so with moderately dark
- skies and or sufficient aperture a lot can be seen. here's how to locate this open cluster.
- to find ngc 663 look for the W or M shape of the constellation cassiopeia in the northern sky.
- if you're not sure where to look for it check out my shapes in the sky
- cassiopeia video for how to find it a link for that is in the description of this video.
- ngc 663 is on the side of cassiopeia with the dimmer stars delta and epsilon. the cluster is
- nearly equidistant between the two but it's not on a straight line between them we'll have to look
- on the outside of the W or M shape just a little. remember what direction this is as users of
- reversed image finder scopes will see stars go the opposite direction of the motion you need to move
- and there are several clusters in this area so in a moment i will explain how not to get confused.
- with a magnified finderscope having a seven degrees field of view
- place delta and epsilon cassiopeiae that are about four and a half degrees apart
- both in the field of view one on each side of what you can see through your finder.
- from most skies even a small finder scope will also show several dimmer stars between
- delta and epsilon. if you imagine the exact halfway point between those two bright stars
- then look just outside of the W or M shape of cassiopeia here you'll notice one of the brighter
- stars in this area though there's another slightly brighter one further out and not as centered.
- aim for the more centered star and then move half that distance again in the same direction.
- looking in this area in your main telescope with an eyepiece showing a one degree field of view
- you should see that star you were aiming for at the eyepiece and these two dimmer
- eighth magnitude stars these three stars point right to ngc 663 which may already be in your
- field of view. just center it and there you are. more on observing it in a moment.
- for telescopes with a red dot finder this cluster is a bit more challenging but it can be found aim
- the red dot finder at the spot directly between delta and epsilon that are nearly 5 degrees apart
- imagine moving at a right angle outward from the W or M about 1/4 the distance of that five degrees
- you might try starting at 1/2 the distance first then moving halfway back. in
- if not then move a little less if you're unsure and then you'll find the stars mentioned above
- in your main telescope. once looking through it use them to aim at and then center the cluster.
- this open cluster is fairly good sized at about 15 arc minutes across which translates to around
- a quarter of one degree. if you have a medium magnification eyepiece it may frame the cluster
- nicely and if you have only a couple eyepieces and it's filling the view entirely use the lower
- magnification. and as for the lawn mower it's there. these stars form what could be the body
- and wheels here's the engine and there's the handle do you see it? no? if not let me know
- what you do see here. i just see a gorgeous open star cluster. and if you liked this video and it
- helped you to find this object successfully check out the other 39 telescopes on the sky objects.
- i lead you step by step to the best and easiest objects to find from the northern hemisphere.
- and don't forget to subscribe to this channel by clicking the subscribe button just below
- this video to the right on youtube. i make regular updates on how to find all kinds
- of interesting objects in the night sky naked eye with binoculars telescopes and occasional reviews
- too and have since 2010. thanks for watching i'm david fuller wishing you clear and dark skies.
-
salutations celestial sight seers i'm david fuller from eyes on the sky. ngc 663 is a
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