Double Cluster in Perseus

The region around double cluster h Persei and chi Persei (also known as NGC 869 and NGC 884) as viewed by ESA’s Gaia satellite using information from the mission’s second data release.  

This stellar system comprises two open clusters of a relatively young age, around 12.8 million years old. Together with their surroundings, these two clusters contain enough mass to account for at least 20,000 stars as massive as the Sun.

The view is not a photograph but was compiled by mapping the total density of stars detected by Gaia in each pixel.

Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); A. Moitinho / A. F. Silva / M. Barros / C. Barata, University of Lisbon, Portugal; H. Savietto, Fork Research, Portugal.