NGC 1027 (also IC 1824, Melotte 6, Collinder 30 and OCl 357) is a magnitude +6.7 open star cluster located 2,520 light-years (772 parsecs) away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
The open cluster was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) f/13 speculum reflector at Windsor Road in Slough, Berkshire, on the 3rd November 1787. The open cluster was rediscovered by Edward Barnard and relisted as IC 1824.
The open cluster is located in the south-eastern part of the constellation, in the direction of a rich star field on the edge of IC 1805 (the Heart Nebula), and appears to be dominated by a magnitude 7.03 white star. With 10x50 binoculars it is visible as a faint fuzzy spot surrounding this star; a 120mm telescope is able to show it is composed of dozens of more stars to magnitude 12. Long exposure photographs can show the filaments of the Heart Nebula. NGC 1027 is a moderately rich cluster and despite its brightness, little studied. Its distance falls on the outer edge of the Orion Arm, in a region adjacent to an OB association known as Camelopardalis OB1. Close by, within a few tens of parsecs, are the the two clusters of Tr 2 and Tr 3. Its age is estimated at 160 million years and is therefore an evolved cluster, free of any particularly massive spectral class O and B stars, which have already completed their life cycle. The HR diagram of the stars of this cluster show it to be rather scattered and not very homogeneous, lacking stars on the main sequence. The declination of this cluster favours northern observers in the northern hemisphere, with the open cluster being circumpolar at mid-low latitudes. From the southern hemisphere the open cluster is quite low and is not observable from areas far from the tropical zone. The best time to observe this object is in the evening sky is between October and March.
Right Ascension 02h 42m 43s , Declination +61° 35' 42"
