Author Archives: Mark Bailey

Messier 41

M41 (NGC 2287) is an open cluster south of the brightest star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major and, at magnitude 4.5, is visible to the naked eye.

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Messier 35

M35 (NGC 2168) is an open cluster in the constellation Gemini. At magnitude 5.3 it is visible to the naked eye in dark skies at the feet of Gemini (see chart below). In the lower right, which is southwest in this image, you can see NGC 2158 which is 10 times older and five times more remote than M35 and at magnitude 8.6 is not visible to the naked eye even in Torrey.

Mark Bailey

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Messier 42, 43 & 78

M42 (NGC 1976) is a star forming nebula, an emission and reflection nebula in Orion.

M43 (NGC 1982) is also a star forming nebula and emission and reflection nebula with an open star cluster, also in Orion.

M78 (NGC 2068) is the great star forming nebula, a reflection nebula, with an open star cluster, in Orion.

Mark Bailey

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