Beehive cluster

Vixen 102M+Canon EOS 300d at prime focus

1 image

exposure: 60 sec

ISO:400

M44, the Praesepe or Beehive, is an open cluster located about halfway between Gemini and Leo.

It is easily visible to the unaided eye as a hazy 3rd magnitude patch in an otherwise bland area of sky.

Galileo first observed it in a telescope as a collection of about 40 stars, and today's modern large telescopes reveal about 350 stars. M44 is about 577 light years away, and is about 400 million years old, the same age as the Hyades cluster.