Target: M44 – The Beehive Cluster (Praesepe)
Date & Time: May 8, 2025 @ 9:00 PM PDT
Location: El Camino College Observatory
🧪 Imaging Setup
- Telescope: Celestron C11 Schmidt-Cassegrain
- Aperture / Focal Ratio: 280mm / f/10
- Camera: ZWO ASI294MC (Color CMOS)
- Capture Software: SharpCap
- Total Integration Time:15 minutes
- Frames: 15 × 60s exposures
- Gain: 117
- Color Space: RGB24
- Output Format: FITS
- Mount & Tracking: [Insert if applicable – e.g., autoguided EQ mount]
📌 Target Details: M44 (NGC 2632)
- Common Name: Beehive Cluster / Praesepe
- Object Type: Open Cluster
- Constellation: Cancer
- Right Ascension: 08h 40m
- Declination: +19° 40′
- Distance: ~577 light-years
- Apparent Magnitude: 3.7
- Angular Size: ~1.5 degrees (~95 arcminutes)
- Estimated Age: 600–700 million years
🌌 Visual & Scientific Notes
- The image captures the loose and irregular stellar distribution of an open cluster, distinct from globular clusters.
- Multiple bright stars resolved in the core region, with outer stars falling off into a wide halo.
- Using SharpCap for live stacking or frame calibration, signal-to-noise was likely improved over the session.
- The color correction eliminated the background blue cast, revealing more neutral stellar color tones.
🧭 Astrophysical Importance
- M44 is ideal for beginner and intermediate observers to study stellar evolution, particularly the main sequence.
- At 577 light-years, it’s among the nearest open clusters, providing a clear comparison to the Hyades or Pleiades.
- Good candidate for Gaia proper motion overlays or long-term motion studies using SharpCap logs + JPL ephemeris.
📚 Historical & Cultural Insight
- Known since antiquity; mentioned by Ptolemy and featured in the Almagest.
- In Chinese tradition, it forms the heart of the asterism 鬼宿 (Guǐ Xiù)—”The Ghosts.”
- Appears in ancient and modern sky lore as a mystical “hive” of stars.
📁 Image Reference
