Beehive Cluster
The Beehive Cluster is an open cluster in Cancer just visible to the naked eye. An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand Stars that were formed from the same Giant molecular cloud, and are still loosely gravitationally
Observation data (J2000. 0 epoch)
Constellation	Cancer
Right ascension	08h 40. In Astronomy, an epoch is a moment in time used as a reference for the Orbital elements of a Celestial body. In common usage a constellation is a group of celestial bodies that are connected together in some arrangement typically stars to form a visible figure or picture Cancer ( Crab, symbol, Unicode ♋ is one of the twelve Constellations of the Zodiac. Right ascension (abbrev RA; symbol α) is the Astronomical term for one of the two Coordinates of a point on the Celestial sphere 4m
Declination	19° 41′
Distance	0. In Astronomy, declination (abbrev dec or δ) is one of the two coordinates of the Equatorial coordinate system, the other being either 577 kly (177 Pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)	3. A light-year or light year (symbol ly) is a unit of Length, equal to just under ten trillion Kilometres As defined by The apparent magnitude ( m) of a celestial body is a measure of its Brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, normalized to the value 7
Apparent dimensions (V)	95′
Other designations	M44, Praesepe, NGC 2632
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

The Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger"), M44 or NGC 2632) is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand Stars that were formed from the same Giant molecular cloud, and are still loosely gravitationally An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand Stars that were formed from the same Giant molecular cloud, and are still loosely gravitationally Cancer ( Crab, symbol, Unicode ♋ is one of the twelve Constellations of the Zodiac. It looks like a nebulous object to the naked eye under dark skies, and thus has been known since ancient times--Ptolemy called it "The nebulous mass in the breast" of Cancer. It is also among the first objects Galileo studied with his telescope. Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher

The 730-million-year old cluster is 577 light years away. Its age and proper motion coincide with the Hyades open cluster, suggesting they were created in the same diffuse nebula. The Hyades ( Greek Ὑάδες also known as Melotte 25 or Collinder 50 or Caldwell 41 is the nearest Open cluster to the Both contain red giants and white dwarfs, but the brightest stars are class A, F, and G stars. A red giant is a luminous Giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0 A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small Star composed mostly of Electron-degenerate matter. In Astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of Stars based initially on photospheric temperature and its associated Spectral characteristics It contains at least 200 stars, and perhaps as many as 350.

The Beehive is most easily observed when Cancer is high in the sky; this occurs during the evening from February to May. At 95 arc minutes across, it fits well in the field of view of binoculars or a telescope of low power.

History

Galileo was the first to observe the Beehive in a telescope, in 1609, and was able to resolve it into 40 stars. Charles Messier added it to his famous catalog in 1769 after precisely measuring its position in the sky. Charles Messier ( June 26, 1730 &ndash April 12, 1817) was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an The Messier objects are a set of Astronomical objects first listed by French astronomer Charles Messier in his "Catalogue des Nébuleuses Along with the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades cluster, Messier's inclusion of the Beehive has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets. The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a Diffuse nebula situated south of Orion 's Belt The Pleiades (ˈpliːədiːz or /ˈplaɪədiːz/ also known as M 45, the '''Seven Sisters''', Seven Stars, SED, Matariki One possibility is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects, and so he added some bright, well-known objects to boost his list^[1]

Ancient Greeks and Romans saw this nebulous object as a manger with two donkeys, the stars Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, eating from it, specifically, the donkeys that Dionysos and Silenus rode into battle against the Titans. Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille ( March 15, 1713 &ndash March 21, 1762) was a French Astronomer. Year 1755 ( MDCCLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Gamma Cancri (γ Cnc / γ Cancri is a Star system in the Constellation Cancer. Delta Cancri ( δ Cnc / δ Cancri) is an Orange giant Star approximetally 136 Light-years away in the Constellation In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman The Silenoi (Σειληνοί were followers of Dionysus. They were drunks and were usually bald and fat with thick lips and squat noses and had the legs of a human In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary ^[2]

This perceived nebular object is the main celestial object in the 23rd lunar mansion (Hsiu Kuei or Xiu Gui) of ancient Chinese astrology. Ancient Chinese skywatchers saw this as a ghost or demon riding in a carriage and likened its appearance to a 'cloud of pollen blown from willow catkins'.

Composition

The cluster is about 16 light years in diameter and contains at least 200 stars confirmed to be bound to the cluster, out of 350 total in the vicinity. A light-year or light year (symbol ly) is a unit of Length, equal to just under ten trillion Kilometres As defined by It has a visual brightness of magnitude 3. 7. Its brightest stars are blue-white and of magnitude 6 to 6. 5. The Beehive is one of the older and larger open clusters known.

42 Cancri is a member of this cluster. 42 Cancri (abbr 42 Cnc) is a Star in the Constellation Cancer.

References

1. ^ Frommert, Hartmut (1998). "Messier Questions & Answers". Retrieved March 1, 2005.
2. ^ M44, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, February 6, 2005.

External links

• Messier 44, SEDS Messier pages
• NightSkyInfo.com - M44, the Beehive Cluster
• Astronomy Picture of the Day
• Wikisky.org SDSS image of M44