Category Archives: Messier

Messier 46

M46 (NGC 2437) is an open cluster in the constellation Puppis. At magnitude 6.0 it is barely visible to the naked eye in dark skies.

M46 has a little planetary nebula within the boundaries of the cluster. You can see it in the upper left center of the picture. It may or may not be part of the cluster.

M46

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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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