M44 - The Praeseppe
m44.jpg - 79225 Bytes
Latin for "Manger", the Praseppe is a large loose open cluster also known as the Beehive. Under reasonably dark sky conditions, it appears as a pale grey fuzz to the naked eye. According to Burnham, legend indicates it was used in ancient times as a weather indicator.


  • RA: 8:40
  • Dec: 19:59
  • Size: 95'
  • Magnitude: 3.1
  • Distance: 577 ly
  • Constellation: Cancer
  • Millennium Star Atlas: Vol. II, p. 712
  • Scope: Olympus 135 mm lens at f/4
  • Autoguider: Piggybacked on 8" SCT
  • Sky conditions: Good seeing, fair transparency
  • Film: Fuji Super G 800+
  • Exposure: 10 minutes
  • Date: 3-18-99

I'm pretty pleased at the performance of this lens, which was surprisingly sharp stopped down one notch from wide-open. The above image is a fairly small cutout of the overall shot.


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