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Messier 44 |
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 | M44, the Beehive CLuster, also known as Praesepe (Latin for manger), is an easy naked eye object more than twice the size across of the full moon, and has thus been noted since prehistoric times. It was one of the first objects on which Galileo trained his newly acquired telescope. M44 is one of the nearest open clusters, close to 600 light-years away. In 10x50 binoculars, this blur explodes into a nearly field-filling maze of stars. Some 40-45 individuals could be counted with a steady hand. Also apparent near the cluster's center was a striking 30' asterism very much like a miniature Corvus, the Crow. Magnificent cluster at low powers, easily resolved in finderscope M44 is a grand object at 49X. Bright and very large.There is a striking triplet of stars near the center. When viewed at higher power the clusterlike appearance is lost due to the apparent size (1°.5). Use low power for the best view. |
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| You can find more information about this Messier object by visiting: SEDS - The Messier Catalog. |
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Beehive Cluster Praesepe M44 NGC 2632 Other description: Open cluster bright scattered. Constellation: Cancer Dreyer description: Praesepe; = M44. Magnitude: 3.1 RA: 08h 40m 20.0s Dec: +19°58'14" RA: 08h 40m 06.0s Dec: +19°59'00" (Epoch 2000) Azm: 128°32'54" Alt: +54°44'09" Rise: 07:53 Transit: 15:25 Set: 22:57 Size:95.0' |