M39

M39 or Messier 39, also known as NGC 7092, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Cygnus, positioned two degrees to the south of the star Pi Cygni and around 9° east-northeast of Deneb. The cluster was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749, then Charles Messier added it to his catalogue in 1764.

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When observed in a small telescope at low power the cluster shows around two dozen members but is best observed with binoculars. It has a total integrated magnitude (brightness) of 5.5 and spans an angular diameter of 29 arcminutes[4] – about the size of the full Moon. It is centered about 1,010 light-years (311 parsecs) away.

Wide field photos will show this little patch of star above the tail of the Swan (Deneb) and the North America Nebula

I looked at this one and sketched it back in 1991. The Observation Comments are telling, suggesting this is best viewed at a lower power.(In the finder)

Notes

Keywords: M39, Messier,  Cygnus, open cluster