cprroy73
member
Reged: 05/26/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Lake Charles, Louisiana
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I am just wondering which is your favorite open cluster.
Mine are:
#1- M11 It is my favorite with out a doubt. Just so many stars visible.
#2- M45 Very bright, beautiful with a wide field eyepiece
#3- NGC869 and NGC884 double cluster another wide field or higher powers on each seperately.
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Zhummel 10" dob
Televue pan 24, Nag 13
telrad
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jhors
Riddle me this
Reged: 07/16/07
Posts: 977
Loc: Tempe, AZ
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In addition to the ones you mentioned I also like:
NGC 457: I admit that sometimes the eyes creep me out just a little 
NGC 6520 and B86: wonderful contrast; a yin-yang pairing of light and dark
M46 and NGC 2438: another contrast, this time of differing stages of life. pretty cluster with PN superimposed.
NGC 7789: delicate and beautiful, dense stars of decreasing magnitude gradually disappear into fine granular haze.
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-Josh
Boyce Thompson Arboretum:
10" f/4.7 Dob
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cprroy73
member
Reged: 05/26/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Lake Charles, Louisiana
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I'll give those a try. Thanks for the input.
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Zhummel 10" dob
Televue pan 24, Nag 13
telrad
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GlennLeDrew
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 1269
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Melotte 20, the Alpha Persei cluster. Perfect for wide angle binoculars, given its ~4 degree extent. At a distance of 575 l-y, it's one of the nearer clusters. And being relatively young at ~50 Myr, it still has one brilliant yellow supergiant, alpha Per, which contrasts nicely with the numerous unevolved, fainter blue members.
Furthermore, this group is the core of the larger, more dispersed Perseus OB3 association, which in turn is the source of the very scattered Cas-Tau association, covering some 100 degrees of sky between Cassiopeia and Orion. And if that wasn't enough, these groups are near the center--and indeed are probably the 'core'--of the vast Gould Belt, a tilted, elliptical and highly flattened system comprising all OB associations within ~2,000 l-y of the Sun.
What's surprising is that a number of star atlases don't plot this very well-known group (Mel 20, that is)!
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Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV
Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV
Home-made Mk II RA bino, using interchangeable objectives and eyepieces
My Gallery
Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.
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PG Lewis
sage
Reged: 09/25/08
Posts: 204
Loc: ~31.5S NSW Australia
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I have limited experience, but here's a few that do stand out for me so far.
I do have very fond notes on M11 (Wild Duck) in both bins and a small Newt, but it has been several years since I've viewed it  .
I'll definitely give more thumbs up to the Alpha Persei cluster and the Double Cluster. Always a treat. Mel 111 in Coma Berenices and Ptolemy's Cluster (M7) are both wonderful in bins as well!
I don't think an open cluster list could be worth its weight without including M45.
I just recently hit the three Messier OCs in Auriga and found them all to be lovely in a small scope, M37 probably being my favorite of the three at a first glance.
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Cincinnati, Ohio (~39N, 84.5W)
Currently enjoying the southern milkyway from the mid-North coast NSW, Australia
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alanon
Nobody tells me anything
Reged: 06/29/07
Posts: 2611
Loc: Las Vegas
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Quote:
I am just wondering which is your favorite open cluster.
Mine are:
#1- M11 It is my favorite with out a doubt. Just so many stars visible
#2- M45 Very bright, beautiful with a wide field eyepiece
#3- NGC869 and NGC884 double cluster another wide field or higher powers on each seperately.
DITTO! Your top three pretty much matches mine. 
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Alanon the Wizard (a literary character, not the organization)
Dan
12.5" Obsession #1531
WO 98mm FLT (aluminum tube)
WO ZenithStarII 80mm ED
Coronado PST Ha
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helpwanted
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/04/07
Posts: 2655
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
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i like NGC6910 cause i stumbled on it, and noticed it's "Y" shape... kind of neat "discovering" it myself!
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jrbarnett
Eyepiece Hooligan
Reged: 02/28/06
Posts: 4345
Loc: Petaluma, CA
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#1: NGC 2362 surrounding Tau Canis Major.
#2: NGC 2158 adjacent to M35.
#3: M37 or M67; I waffle between these two.
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"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
- Sir Issac Newton
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coutleef
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/21/08
Posts: 1713
Loc: Montréal and Saint-Donat, Québ...
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For the time being:
- NGC869 and NGC884 double cluster
- NGC 7789
- M 42
but this winter it will be, M35, M36, M37, M38.
We are spoiled in fall for open cluster viewing with Cass being at an ideal position
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François
Scopes: Nexstar 8 SE with Ron's rail and Denk S1 Powerswitch. EPs list is on my Bio.
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Ptarmigan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/23/04
Posts: 2355
Loc: Arctic
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Tough one for me to decide since I have seen so many open clusters. Okay, here's a list.
Pleiades
Hyades
Beehive Cluter
Double Cluster
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Ptarmigans=Cute and Cuddly
Meade Starfinder 8
Nikon 10x50
Rebel XT
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Demelza
super member
Reged: 05/07/06
Posts: 184
Loc: The Netherlands
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#1 Definitely the Owl Cluster (NGC 457)
#2 The Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884)
#3 M11
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Take a look at my website: Observing the night sky.
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FirstSight
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/26/05
Posts: 3892
Loc: Raleigh, NC
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M11 in summer
M37 in winter
- both improve up to a point with aperture (enough to break cluster into discrete spray of individual stars + show many more of the fainter memebers). Both are much better in my 12-inch reflector than my 90mm APO refractor.
OK, so this isn't a true cluster per se
- but my favorite cluster-y starfield is M24 in Sagittarius. It's a staggeringly, uncountably dense swarm of stars in a 31 Nagler in my 12" reflector.
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Chris M., aka "First Sight"
Orion XT12i Dob with Moonlite CR-2 focuser
WO Megrez 90 refractor on UniStar Light mount
Nikon 10x50 Binoculars
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Jason B
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/21/04
Posts: 2857
Loc: Mid-Michigan
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I like NGC 6939 in Cygnus. Not because it is spectacular or anything like that but it is within the same low power field as NGC 6946 (face on spiral galaxy). It is one of my favorite object pairs and make a point to study it every late summer/early fall.
NGC 457 is right up there too.
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Jason
My Photostream
Lead Volunteer/Coordinator for Fox Park Observatory
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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5025
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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Mt favorite open cluster of all time would be M-11, but there are others I observe time and time again.
Taras
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15-inch F/4.5 Dob under construction
10-inch F/4.5 Discovery Dob
6-inch F/8 Homebuilt Dob
4 1/4-inch F/4 Homebuilt reflector
A whole bunch of eyepieces, filters and other accessories....
Two curious cats
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Jeff Morgan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/28/03
Posts: 1987
Loc: Prescott, AZ
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A single favorite is so hard! Many good suggestions here, I would add NGC 6231 (the Northern Jewel Box) to the list. Not as rich as M11 or even the Double Cluster, but it still has lots of "punch".
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Jeff Morgan
Prescott, AZ
Wile E. Coyote School of Telescope Making
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edwincjones
Postmaster
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 5667
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easy for me
#1- m45
#2-double cluster
edj
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n w arkansas
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 16351
Loc: Kuiper Belt
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In a smaller aperture instrument, the following :
1) M50 (very underrated in my opinion)
2) M7 (always a treat)
3) M45 (of course)
4) Alpha Persei Association (too sprawling for all but richfield scopes)
5) Orion's Belt Association (another sprawling delight)
6) Regions of Cygnus along the line between Deneb and Albireo. (lots of strings, doubles, and clusters)
7) M24 region (this area of Sagittarius and the adjoining Scutum region are amazing)
8) The Coathanger - one of the only asterisms that strongly resembles it's name.
9) Christmas Tree Cluster (I forget the NGC number at the moment)
10) Cluster associated with the Rosette Nebula (this one is best appreciated with larger apertures, I forget the catalog number at the moment)
All of the others mentioned in this thread are great, I just thought I would add some that are a little more obscure or taken for granted. 
Regards and clear skies,
MikeG
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, Tektites, Fossils, Minerals, Crystals, & Trinitite.
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RobertPL
member
Reged: 03/04/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Austin, TX
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Hard to argue with the Double Cluster and M45. I'd add M44, and M7, and for some reason I always had a soft spot for M41.
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Fujinon 16x70 FMT-SX
Canon 10x30 IS
Orion MegaViews 30x80
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cprroy73
member
Reged: 05/26/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Lake Charles, Louisiana
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M7 is a good one for sure. I have yet to see ngc 457 I am still learning the sky. I am not sure if it is up right now but I will check stellarium and try it out. There seems to be many great opens that I have not seen yet. I better get to work.
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Zhummel 10" dob
Televue pan 24, Nag 13
telrad
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 16351
Loc: Kuiper Belt
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I forgot about M44! 
That is one of my favorites, more so because it is prone to close calls with Saturn. 
M41 is nice also - it was the first DSO I found on my own when I first started out.
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, Tektites, Fossils, Minerals, Crystals, & Trinitite.
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