IC 348, also known as Collinder 41, is a beautiful star cluster wrapped in a veil of milky nebulosity. On autumn and winter nights, turn your attention to the Perseus constellation and this cosmic cradle where stars are born. Enjoy taking a look as you have a front-row seat to see the shaping of the fabric of our cosmos! In fact, some of these newly-formed stars are causing quite the fireworks show recently captured by the Hubble telescope. You can read more here.
This notable cluster is made up of approximately 400 stars and spans about 20 arcminutes on the sky, equivalent in size to about two-thirds of the moon! If only our eyes, without optical help, could see this marvelous area illuminated against inky black skies. At a magnitude of +7.3, you’ll need at least a pair of binoculars and some dark skies, while a moderate-sized telescope from the suburbs brings in the cluster’s stars that lie around 1,000 light years away.
I also suggest reading more about how the telescope
My Observations
| Date | December 16, 2023 |
| Time | 8:30 p.m. |
| Location | Seattle, WA |
| Magnification | 169x |
| Scope | Meade 8″ SCT |
| Eyepiece | 12mm |
| Seeing | Average |
| Transparency | Average |
Tonight is a rare clear and moonless night in the Pacific Northwest, so I’m taking in every minute I can at the scope. I’ve been sauntering through Perseus the last few minutes and just enjoyed the aquamarine-colored Epsilon Persei. Now, I turn my attention to IC 348 again after several years. I first observed IC 348 on November 6, 2020, at 10:50 pm, noting that while I could make out the cluster, I could not see any nebulosity. I’m afraid tonight is the same story. I’m fighting off some haze from nearby chimney smoke, so perhaps there’s hope that I’ll eke out some nebulosity under better sky conditions someday. Still, this is an attractive cluster of stars appearing near the bright star Omicron Persei.
Key Stats
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Best Viewing | Autumn |
| Visual Magnitude | +7.3 |
| Absolute Magnitude | +.59 |
| Distance from Earth | 1,000 ly |
| Apparent Size | 20 arcmin |
| My Viewing Grade | B |
| Designations | IC 348, C 0341+321, Collinder 41 |
Sources and Notes
The banner photo was adapted from an IC 348 Webb Telescope image in the public domain. Credit to: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Kevin Luhman (PSU), Catarina Alves de Oliveira (ESA)
Photo of IC 348 by David Ritter and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Sketch by Wayne McGraw
The Garden Astronomer 