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]
The Trumpler class of NGC 1502 is II3p, indicating poorly populated cluster of stars (p) with a wide brightness range (3). The main sequenceturnoff 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]
^ abTripathi, A.; et al. (September 2013). "Photometric study of Galactic open cluster NGC 2129, NGC 1502 and King 12". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India. 41 (3): 209. Bibcode:2013BASI...41..209T.
^ abcdMichalska, G.; et al. (December 2009). "A CCD Search for Variable Stars of Spectral Type B in the Northern Hemisphere Open Clusters. VII. NGC 1502". Acta Astronomica. 59 (4): 349–370. arXiv:0910.3672. Bibcode:2009AcA....59..349M.
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