Object of the Week, August 15, 2022 – Berkeley 82

[Howard B]

Aquila
Open cluster
RA: 19 11 20
Dec: +13 06 49

Berkeley 82_DSS_crop.JPG

On the third night of the Golden State Star Party this past June, I came across an object that I’d circled on my star atlas. Circled objects like this are ones I've highlighted at some point in the past because I thought they would be interesting to observe, and I circled this one so long ago that I didn’t remember when I did so, and didn't recall ever observing it.

With a little searching it turns out Berkeley 82 it was on the Oregon star Party observing list in 2009, which was when I plotted it on my atlas, and when I first observed it. I usually place a check mark next to the object in my atlas after observing it, but I’m glad I forgot to do so in this case. In this way, I got to observe this lovely little cluster for the first time twice!

Berkeley 82 is a striking, well detached open cluster in the Aquila portion of the Milky Way. Its three brightest stars – two of which are conspicuously yellow – are close to being equally spaced from each other and form a gentle curve that several fainter stars follow, and form a distinct boundary. These fainter stars straggle away, giving the cluster the look of a jellyfish.

I found it interesting to compare my notes and sketches made nearly 13 years apart, so here they are – first is the 2009 observation:

“Very nice little cluster. Well detached, a little more so than Berk 2 [which I had just observed] and with a more pleasing shape – the 3 brightest stars give an impression of a bow shock as the cluster moves through the galaxy…although I’m sure that’s not the case. 253x, 21.67 SQM.” (28-inch f/4, August 18, 2009)

Berk82_2009.JPG Berk82_2009_invert.JPG

“This is a cool open cluster! Its three brightest stars really stand out, not only because they’re bright, but that two, and perhaps all 3 are yellow. The overall cluster is nearly circular, making it even more distinctive. 183x, 21.60 SQM.” (30-inch f/2.7, June 30, 2022)

Berk82_2022_rotate_rotated.jpg Berk82_2022_rotate_invert_rotated_2.jpg

The two sketches are close, but not exactly the same, and I didn’t note the yellow color of the brightest stars in my first observation but the two observations give a more complete idea of what I saw. Berkeley 82 is easy to find, being only about a degree and half to the southeast from the 3rd magnitude star Zeta / 17 Aquila.

When you need a break from observing objects you can barely see, give Berkeley 82 a go, and let us know!

[Clear Skies]

An interesting little group indeed, thanks to the three brighter stars on the northwestern edge of which two, to me, too, reveal a bit of color.

I have two observations in my log, both using my 12" SCT. The first in July 2009 from the Netherlands:

A small group that consists mostly of mag. 14 and fainter stars, slightly resolved with use of AV. On the NNW side is an arc of three mag. 10 stars that forms a flattened triangle pointing NNW and the base aligned ENE to WSW. The star in the tip pointing NNW and the star on the east side is slightly yellow-orange, the SW star is colorless.

The second in July 2010 from the French Alps:

On the NNW side is an arc of three mag. 10.5 stars that starts in the SW, curving towards the ENE via the NE, in which the central star is pale orange (resembles a carbon star). To the SE thereof is a glow of mag. 14 and unresolved stars that is slightly elongated NE to SW.

berk82-1.jpg berk82-2.jpg

Click here to download the guide in pdf.

[lamperti]

With a 20" at 272x: "A very small open cluster with 3 bright stars on circular edge of fainter stars completing the circle. Unusual. III,3,p (really = III,1,p)"

[Ciel Extreme]

I have an observation from August 20, 2014 with an 18-inch reflector at 295x. The accompanying sketch was not scanned, though.

“A crescent-shaped grouping of three bright stars marks this cluster which is well detached from the sky background. The three bright stars are along the cluster’s NNW flank; the balance of the cluster members, which are pretty well resolved at 295x, are significantly fainter. About a dozen of these stars are resolved with a suspicion of a nebulous background of still fainter members. Very attractive cluster.”

[Steve Gottlieb]

Another observation with my 18" from August 14, 2004.

"Very attractive small cluster at 225x! Includes a trio of mag 10.5 stars (closest pair at 16") with a total of ~20 stars down to 14th magnitude packed into a 2' circular group over haze. A nice 8" pair of mag 13.5 stars is on the south side."

[Don Pensack]

A nice cluster. From my notes:
small,fairly bright,v.wide mag.range,well-detached,somewhat sparse,V.pretty,brighter members arced,nice field.
That makes the Trumpler Class III 3 p

[Werner_B]

Hi

Here my observation from August 22-23, 2022 from the Alps.
A very nice entry point for a successful night.

ZNG152-2000.jpg

[wvreeven]

I managed to observe this globular cluster from Cerro Pachon in Chile last night using my 12" dob. Cerro Pachon is the mountain that hosts the SOAR and Gemini South observatories as well as the construction site for Vera C. Rubin Observatory and I am lucky enough to work on that project. I assisted in some testing after night fall and took the opportunity to bring up my 12" dob with me. I set up the telescope around 10 PM local time next to Hotel Pachon, where I spent the night.

Berkeley 82 was easily found star hopping from Zeta Aqr. At 48x I had to check several times to make sure that I was in the correct area. The cluster is tiny and doesn't stand out very well against the rich starry background there. And the fact that I am still not used to observing from the southern hemisphere confuses me all the time. But I found it! At 150x I noticed two relatively bright yellow stars plus a slightly fainter one that appeared white to me. The three stars form part of an arc of stars that seemed to form a cup holding a cloud of faint stars.

Up to now I always thought that Berkeley clusters are loose groups without many stars in them. This one certainly changed my mind on that!

[Uwe Glahn]

What a beautiful little cluster Howard. I tried to sketch the field with the 27-inch. The color was not really flashy to me but I noticed much more star groups and asterisms in the field. The best one is Alessi 68 only 10' NW.

sketch: 27", 293x, NELM 6m5+, Seeing IV
Be82.jpg
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