M44 · Beehive Cluster
| Chinese name | 蜂巢星团 |
|---|---|
| Type | Open cluster |
| Constellation | Cnc |
| RA | 08h40m |
| Dec | +19° |
| Apparent magnitude | 3.7ᵐ |
| Hemisphere | Both hemispheres |
| Best season | Winter |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Focal length | 广角/中焦 135–400mm |
About
The Beehive Cluster (M44, Praesepe) lies about 580 light-years away in Cancer and is one of the nearest open clusters to us, appearing to the naked eye as a hazy patch known since antiquity. It contains roughly a thousand stars, covers three times the area of the full moon, and is about 600 million years old. Intriguingly, it shares a similar age and common proper motion with the famous Hyades, suggesting both may have formed from the same cloud. Several exoplanets have been found among its stars. Open and bright in its distribution, it suits wide-field to medium focal imaging that brings out a glittering field of stars, a crowd-pleasing spring target.