Jaspal Chadha - London Astrophotography
M44 - The beehive Cluster
Messier 44 – The Beehive Cluster (or also called the Praesepe) is a fantastic open cluster to view and photograph using a wide-field setup
Date: 19/02/2017
Hazy weather
Location: London UK
Telescope: takahashi FSQ85
Ioptron 45 pro mount
QHY9S CCD
LRGB Chroma filters
7 x 500 seconds each filter
M44 Facts
Praesepe contains at least 1,000 stars which are gravitationally bound. The bright, massive stars are mostly concentrated in the central region and the fainter, less massive members are found in the cluster’s halo. The total mass of Messier 44 is estimated at 500 to 600 solar masses.
The brightest stars in the Beehive Cluster have an apparent magnitude of 6 to 6.5 and are blue-white in colour.
A recent survey of the cluster has revealed that 68 percent of its stars are M-class red dwarfs, around 2 percent are bright class A stars, and 30 percent are stars comparable to the Sun, belonging to spectral classes F, G and K. Praesepe also contains five giant stars. Four have the stellar classification K0 III and one, G0 III. Eleven white dwarfs, stars in the final stage of evolution, have been identified in the cluster. These stars originally belonged to the spectral class B.
M44 - The beehive Cluster
Messier 44 – The Beehive Cluster (or also called the Praesepe) is a fantastic open cluster to view and photograph using a wide-field setup
Date: 19/02/2017
Hazy weather
Location: London UK
Telescope: takahashi FSQ85
Ioptron 45 pro mount
QHY9S CCD
LRGB Chroma filters
7 x 500 seconds each filter
M44 Facts
Praesepe contains at least 1,000 stars which are gravitationally bound. The bright, massive stars are mostly concentrated in the central region and the fainter, less massive members are found in the cluster’s halo. The total mass of Messier 44 is estimated at 500 to 600 solar masses.
The brightest stars in the Beehive Cluster have an apparent magnitude of 6 to 6.5 and are blue-white in colour.
A recent survey of the cluster has revealed that 68 percent of its stars are M-class red dwarfs, around 2 percent are bright class A stars, and 30 percent are stars comparable to the Sun, belonging to spectral classes F, G and K. Praesepe also contains five giant stars. Four have the stellar classification K0 III and one, G0 III. Eleven white dwarfs, stars in the final stage of evolution, have been identified in the cluster. These stars originally belonged to the spectral class B.