IC 348

Also Known as: Collinder 41, IC 1985

Object Type: Reflection Nebula and Open Cluster

Constellation: Perseus

Distance from Earth: 1,028 light years

Apparent Magnitude: 7.3

Coordinates: RA 03H 44M 34S DEC 32 deg 09.8 min 0 sec

Actual Size: 15,000 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 20 arc-minutes

Discovered by: IC 348 was discovered by Eduard Schonfeld in 1855.

Description: IC 348 is a star-forming region in the constellation Perseus just below the bright star Atik.
It consists of nebulosity and an associated 2-million-year-old cluster of roughly 400 stars.
The age of this cluster has allowed three low mass brown dwarfs to be discovered.
IC 348 is an old open star cluster surrounded by a reflection nebula.
It is receding from us at 14 kilometers per second.
It is embedded in the star-forming region called the Perseus molecular cloud.
The light from the roughly 400 stars in the cluster is scattered by clouds of dust in the star-forming region, producing the reflection nebula.
The cluster’s brightest members are hot, bright bluish Main Sequence stars, but some stars are still in the process of formation, so star formation is an ongoing process in the region.

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

Inside this extremely young cluster are also about thirty brown dwarfs discovered, with masses as low as 15 to 80 times that of Jupiter, as well as three brown dwarfs with estimated masses of less than 10 times that of Jupiter.

Platesolve

IC 348 Reflection Nebula

Imaging Details
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