images

Open star cluster M44 in Cancer

by

J.Lodriguss/Novapix

Reference

a-aou26-32003

Date

2006-05-07

M44, the Praesepe or Beehive, is an open cluster located about halfway between Gemini and Leo. It is an easy naked eye object more than twice the size across of the full moon. 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.