M52

open star cluster · in Cassiopeia

5,123 light-years from Earth

A rich young cluster in Cassiopeia that Messier found in 1774 while following a comet. Its brightest member is a yellow supergiant.

• 5,120 light-years (Gaia) · its stars spread over about 40 light-years
• about 50 to 150 million years old · 600 of its stars as Gaia measured them

kind

nebula · star cluster

catalogue

M52 · NGC 7654

size

42 light-years across