 The location of NGC 1502 (circled) | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
|---|---|
| Right ascension | 04h 07m 48.96s [1] |
| Declination | +62° 19′ 55.2″ [1] |
| Distance | 3,452 ly (1,058.4 pc) [1] 3,643+313 −290 ly (1,117+96 −89 pc) [2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 6.0 [3] |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 9.7′ [1] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | 5.5 ly (1.7 pc) [4] |
| Estimated age | 5 Myr [2] |
| Other designations | NGC 1502, [5] Cr 45 |
| Associations | |
| Constellation | Camelopardalis |
NGC 1502 (also known as the Golden Harp Cluster [6] ) is a young [7] open cluster of approximately 60 [3] stars in the constellation Camelopardalis, discovered by William Herschel on November 3, 1787. [8] It has a visual magnitude of 6.0 and thus is dimly visible to the naked eye. [3] This cluster is located at a distance of approximately 3,500 light years [1] [2] from the Sun, at the outer edge of the Cam OB1 association of co-moving stars, and is likely part of the Orion Arm. [2] The asterism known as Kemble's Cascade appears to "flow" into NGC 1502, but this is just a chance alignment of stars. [9]
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The Trumpler class of NGC 1502 is II3p, indicating poorly populated cluster of stars (p) with a wide brightness range (3). The main sequence turnoff point is not well-defined, so the age estimates range from five to fifteen million years. [7] It is heavily reddened due to interstellar dust. [4] One of the brightest candidate members of the cluster is the eclipsing binary SZ Cam, which is a component of a visual double star ADS 2984. [2] There are eleven variable stars and four candidate variables among the cluster members, including a β Cep, two periodic B-type variables, 2–3 eclipsing variables, and an RR Lyrae star. [7] Five members of the cluster are chemically peculiar. [10]
