Combination of 15, 1 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.
NGC 1342 is a large and bright open cluster in Perseus. The cluster appears as a scattered group of fairly bright stars against a background of numerous fainter stars. The glow across the top of the image and partly through the cluster is not a defect. Rather it is faint nebulosity; possibly a faint extension from the California Nebula (NGC 1499) which is located just a short distance to the east.