Beehive (M44)

Object Type: Open Cluster
Scope: APO 80mm; Exposure 42 minutes.

The Beehive Cluster (Messier 44, Praesepe, NGC 2632) is one of the nearest open star clusters to the Sun, about 577 light-years away in Cancer, and richer in stars than most nearby clusters. Bright enough to look like a hazy patch to the naked eye, it has been known since antiquity; Ptolemy called it 'the nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer,' and Galileo was among the first to resolve it into stars with a telescope. Its age and motion match the Hyades, suggesting the two clusters share a common origin.