Alpha Per Cluster (original) (raw)

The Alpha Persei star cluster surrounds the supergiant starMirfak, Alpha Persei, which is the brightest member of the cluster. Large, sprawling, and in the heart of the Milky Way in Perseus, the young Alpha Persei cluster (only 50 million years old, 580 light years away) is not commonly recognized as an open cluster, though it has been known as such for almost a century. (North is toward the top.)