M44 — Beehive Cluster
Open Cluster in Cancer
About
The Beehive Cluster, also called Praesepe, an open cluster in Cancer about 610 light-years away with at least 1,000 members. Galileo resolved about 40 stars in it in 1609, and in 2012 it yielded the first hot Jupiters found in an open cluster.
Imaging tips
- About 95′ across, so it needs a short focal length: 250–430 mm on APS-C. One guide recommends a small telescope so the whole cluster fits.
- No narrowband signal, so the same guide skips filters and shoots with a broadband colour camera; processing is mostly star colour and a dark clean background.
- Quick to capture: 36 subs of 90 s gave a usable image through a Takahashi Epsilon 180ED, and one guide's 5 hours was more than needed from a dark sky.
- Best in January and February.
Facts
- Size
- 95′
- Magnitude
- 3.1
- Coordinates
- RA 8h 40.2m, Dec +19° 37′
- Framing, APS-C
- 250–430 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 390–650 mm
- Best months
- Jan, Feb
- Peak altitude
- 60° from 50°N, 75° from 35°N