M44

From South Dublin Astronomical Society

M44
Type	Open Cluster
NGC	NGC 2632
Constellation	Cancer
Right Ascension	8h 40.1m
Declination	+19° 59'
Magnitude	3.7
Size	95 arc min.
Image:M44 messier image.jpg

One of the most celebrated objects in the sky is the naked-eye star cluster M44, dubbed the Beehive. The group is nicely framed by the four stars making up the body of the celestial Crab — δ, γ, η, and θ Cancri. Recent measurements place M44 at a distance of 577 light years with the cluster’s age estimated to be about 400 million years. Two lovely binocular doubles lie within M44’s boundaries; ADS 6915 (Burnham 584) and ADS 6921. Both lie towards the southern edge of the cluster as part of a sort of tipped-over “house”-shaped asterism that is reminiscent of the constellation Cepheus. ADS 6915 is a triplet of suns of around seventh magnitude at the “roof” of the “house” with the star right at the apex of the triangular arrangement being brightest. ADS 6921 is a quadruple system but only the two more luminous members will be seen in binoculars.