Messier 41 (also known as M41 or NGC 2287) is an

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Canis Major Canis Major is a constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin fo ...

, sometimes referred to as The Little Beehive Cluster. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and was perhaps known to

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

about 325 BC. It lies about four degrees almost exactly south of

Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...

, with which it forms a roughly equilateral triangle with Nu² Canis Majoris to the west—all three figure in the same field in binoculars. The cluster covers an area about the size of the full Moon. It contains about 100 stars, including several

red giants A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature around o ...

the brightest of which has

spectral type In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grati ...

K3, apparent magnitude 6.3 and is near the center, and some white dwarfs.Dobbie, P, Day-Jones, A, Williams, K, Casewell, S, Burleigh, M, Lodieu, N, Parker, Q, Baxter, R, (2012), "Further investigation of white dwarfs in the open clusters NGC2287 and NGC3532",

Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'' (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in astronomy and astrophysics. It has been in continuous existence since 1827 and publishes letters and papers reporting orig ...

, 423, 2815–2828 The cluster is estimated to be moving away from us at 23.3 km/s. The

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...

of the cluster is . It is estimated to be 190 million years old, and cluster properties and dynamics suggest a total life expectancy of 500 million years for this cluster, before it will have disintegrated.

Walter Scott Houston Walter Scott Houston (May 30, 1912–December 23, 1993) was an American popularizer of amateur astronomy. He wrote the " Deep-Sky Wonders" column in ''Sky and Telescope'' magazine from 1946 to 1993. Biography Houston was born in Tippecanoe, ...

describes the appearance of the cluster in small telescopes:

Many visual observers speak of seeing curved lines of stars in M41. Although they seem inconspicuous on photographs, the curves stand out strongly in my 10-inch eflecting telescope and the bright red star near the center of the cluster is prominent.

The bright red/orange star near the center is HIP 32406, a giant star of spectral type K2, about 1500 ly away of magnitude 6.9.

Gallery

File:Messier 041 2MASS.jpg, Center

2MASS The Two Micron All-Sky Survey, or 2MASS, was an astronomical survey of the whole sky in infrared light. It took place between 1997 and 2001, in two different locations: at the U.S. Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, and ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

File:Messier 41 TLR.jpg, M41 in an 8" telescope File:Sirius Mirzam M41.jpg,

and M41 (lower right), M50 (upper left), and NGC 2360 (lower left) File:M41 star map from Sirius.png, M41 finder chart File:Open Cluster M41 from Viña del Mar.jpg, Open cluster M41 taken from a 12-inch Dobson telescope in Viña del Mar

References

External links

Messier 41, SEDS Messier pages

NightSkyInfo.com – M41

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messier 41 Messier 041 Messier 041 041 Messier 041 Orion–Cygnus Arm Astronomical objects known since antiquity

Gallery

See also

References

External links