Berkeley 29 - Open Star Cluster
Berkeley 29 is an open star cluster in the constellation Gemini, which is over 43,000 light-years away from Earth and is located 8°
above the galactic plane.
The brightest stars are only of 15th magnitude, but the majority have magnitudes of 17mag and below. With an age of 3.7 billion years,
Berkeley 29 is one of the older clusters in the Milky Way. The apparent diameter in the sky is 2.0', which corresponds to a true size of 25 light-years.
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In my 20" f/3 Dobsonian, the star cluster was quite easy to recognize already at 120x as a dull, diffuse patch of light and not particularly difficult.
At a higher magnification of 270x, Berkeley 29 appeared roundish and I was able to detect a total of 8-10 very faint individual stars, 3 of which
were somewhat brighter. The background was slightly grainy and just on the edge of being resolved.
The surrounding area is rich in stars and there is a faint double star to the west of the cluster.
