NGC 559
Open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia
title: "NGC 559" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["open-clusters", "ngc-objects", "caldwell-objects", "cassiopeia-(constellation)", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1787"] description: "Open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia" topic_path: "general/open-clusters" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_559" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Cluster"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | NGC 559 |
| image | File:NGC 559 PanSTARRS.jpg |
| epoch | J2000 |
| constellation | Cassiopeia |
| ra | {{citation |
| title | Global survey of star clusters in the Milky Way. II. The catalogue of basic parameters |
| last1 | Kharchenko |
| last3 | Schilbach |
| last5 | Scholz |
| journal | Astronomy and Astrophysics |
| volume | 558 |
| bibcode | 2013A&A...558A..53K |
| doi | 10.1051/0004-6361/201322302 |
| dec | |
| dist_ly | 7200 ly |
| dist_pc | 2200 pc |
| appmag_v | +9.5 |
| size_v | 7.0 |
| names | Caldwell 8, Cr 13 |
| caption | PanSTARRS image of NGC 559 |
| :: |
| name = NGC 559 | image = File:NGC 559 PanSTARRS.jpg | epoch = J2000 | constellation = Cassiopeia | ra = {{citation | title=Global survey of star clusters in the Milky Way. II. The catalogue of basic parameters | last1=Kharchenko | first1=N. V. | last2=Piskunov | first2=A. E. | last3=Schilbach | first3=E. | last4=Röser | first4=S. | last5=Scholz | first5=R.-D. | display-authors=1 | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | postscript=. | volume=558 | id=A53 | pages=8 | date=2013 | bibcode=2013A&A...558A..53K | arxiv=1308.5822 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201322302 | s2cid=118548517 }} | dec = | dist_ly = 7200 ly | dist_pc = 2200 pc | appmag_v = +9.5 | size_v = 7.0 | notes = | names = Caldwell 8, Cr 13 |caption=PanSTARRS image of NGC 559}} NGC 559 (also known as Caldwell 8) is an open cluster and Caldwell object in the constellation Cassiopeia. It shines at magnitude +9.5. Its celestial coordinates are RA , dec . It is located near the open cluster NGC 637, and the bright magnitude +2.2 irregular variable star Gamma Cassiopeiae. The cluster is 7 arcmins across.
It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.
The object is also called Ghost's Goblet. This name was coined by astronomer Stephen J. O'Meara, as the center of the star cluster, with a little imagination, is reminiscent of a still photograph of a jeweled goblet that is about to vanish in a ghostly manner. O'Meara attributes the impression of fading to the low brightness (about +12) of many stars in the center as well as to the great age of the star cluster, which is about 1.8 billion years old. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/NGC_559_map.png" caption="Map showing the location of NGC 559"] ::
References
References
- "Celestial Atlas: NGC Objects: NGC 550 - 599".
- https://www.deepskycorner.ch/obj/ngc559.en.php
- O’Meara, Stephen James (2016): ''The Caldwell Objects.'' 2nd edition, Cambridge, [[Cambridge University Press]], ISBN 978-1-107-08397-4, p. 49–51.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::