M29

From South Dublin Astronomical Society

M29
Type	Open cluster
NGC	NGC 6913
Constellation	Cygnus
Right Ascension	20h 23.9m
Declination	+38° 32’
Magnitude	7.1
Size	7 arc min.
Image:M29 messier image.jpg

The Celestial Swan glides overhead during the late-summer and earlyautumn months and is liberally feathered with many open clusters. Sheltered under one of the wings of Cygnus is M29, one of only two such Messier objects within the constellation’s boundaries. The association is found a little under two degrees southwest of magnitude 2.2 Gamma Cygni (Sadr). The position in a particularly rich star field means that you may at first have a little difficulty identifying the cluster but it will appear as a small knot of a number of brightish stars in larger glasses. Smaller instruments show a general grainy glow. M29 is heavily obscured by interstellar dust and would be three magnitudes brighter but for this fact. It’s age is estimated at 10 million years and the brightest star may have a luminosity 180,000 times that of the Sun. It is not particularly populous with only some 50 or so stars claiming membership.