This article is about the Beehive Cluster. For other uses, see Beehive.
Messier 44 / Beehive Cluster
The Beehive Cluster in Cancer (north is to the right)
Observation data (J2000.0 epoch)
Right ascension
08h 40.4m
Declination
19° 59′
Distance
610 ly[1] (187 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)
3.7[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)
95′
Physical characteristics
Mass
~500–600 M☉
Estimated age
~600–700 million years
Other designations
Praesepe, M44, NGC 2632, Cr 189
Associations
Constellation
Cancer
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters
Map showing the location of M44 in the constellation of Cancer
The Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger", "cot" or "crib"), M44, NGC 2632, or Cr 189), is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. One of the nearest open clusters to Earth, it contains a larger population of stars than other nearby bright open clusters holding around 1,000 stars. Under dark skies, the Beehive Cluster looks like a small nebulous object to the naked eye, and has been known since ancient times. Classical astronomer Ptolemy described it as a "nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer". It was among the first objects that Galileo studied with his
telescope.[3]
Age and proper motion coincide with those of the Hyades, suggesting they may share similar origins.[4][5] Both clusters also contain red giants and white dwarfs, which represent later stages of stellar evolution, along with many main sequence stars.
Distance to M44 is often cited to be between 160 and 187 parsecs (520–610 light years),[6][7][8] but the revised Hipparcos parallaxes (2009) for Praesepe members and the latest infrared color-magnitude diagram favors an analogous distance of 182 pc.[9][10] There are better age estimates of around 600 million years[5][7][11] (compared to about 625 million years for the Hyades).[12] The diameter of the bright inner cluster core is about 7.0 parsecs (23 light years).[11]
At 1.5° across, the cluster easily fits within the field of view of binoculars or low-powered small telescopes. Regulus, Castor, and Pollux are guide stars.
^"NGC 2632". sim-id. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
^
"Messier 44". SEDS. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
^"Messier 44: Observations and Descriptions".
^
Klein-Wassink, W.J. (1927). "The proper motion and the distance of the Praesepe cluster". Publications of the Kapteyn Astronomical Laboratory Groningen. 41: 1–48. Bibcode:1927PGro...41....1K.
^ ab
Dobbie PD; Napiwotzki R; Burleigh MR; et al. (2006). "New Praesepe white dwarfs and the initial mass-final mass relation". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 369 (1): 383–389. arXiv:astro-ph/0603314. Bibcode:2006MNRAS.369..383D. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10311.x. S2CID 17914736.
^
Pinfield DJ; Dobbie PD; Jameson F; Steele IA; et al. (2003). "Brown dwarfs and low-mass stars in the Pleiades and Praesepe: Membership and binarity". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 342 (4): 1241–1259. arXiv:astro-ph/0303600. Bibcode:2003MNRAS.342.1241P. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06630.x. S2CID 285922.
^ ab
Kraus AL; Hillenbrand LA (2007). "The stellar populations of Praesepe and Coma Berenices". Astronomical Journal. 134 (6): 2340–2352. arXiv:0708.2719. Bibcode:2007AJ....134.2340K. doi:10.1086/522831. S2CID 15945900.
^WEBDA
^van Leeuwen, F. "Parallaxes and proper motions for 20 open clusters as based on the new Hipparcos catalogue", A&A, 2009
^Majaess, D.; Turner, D.; Lane, D.; Krajci, T. "Deep Infrared ZAMS Fits to Benchmark Open Clusters Hosting delta Scuti Stars", Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, 2011
^ ab
Adams JD; Stauffer JR; Skrutskie MF; et al. (2002). "Structure of the Praesepe Star Cluster". Astronomical Journal. 124 (3): 1570–1584. Bibcode:2002AJ....124.1570A. doi:10.1086/342016.
^
Perryman M; Brown A; Lebreton Y; Gomez A; Turon C; Cayrel de Strobel G; et al. (1998). "The Hyades: Distance, structure, dynamics, and age". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 331: 81–120. arXiv:astro-ph/9707253. Bibcode:1998A&A...331...81P.
The BeehiveCluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger", "cot" or "crib"), M44, NGC 2632, or Cr 189), is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer...
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331: 81, arXiv:astro-ph/9707253, Bibcode:1998A&A...331...81P "The BeehiveCluster". BBC Sky at Night Magazine. July 19, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2024...
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location of houses that mimic the beehive architecture and they are still in existence today. The structures, which are clustered together like a termite colony...
open star cluster in the southern sky in the constellation Carina discovered by Abbe Lacaille in 1751-1752. It is also called Southern Beehive or the Sprinter...
used to poison predators Messier 44 (M44), an open star cluster also called the BeehiveCluster Progress M-44, a spacecraft used to resupply the International...
Cluster M35 Open Cluster M39 Winnecke 4 (M40) Open Cluster M41 The Orion Nebula (M42) The De Mairan's Nebula (M43) The BeehiveCluster (M44) The Pleiades...
Dionysus's Asses (Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis) and Manger (BeehiveCluster) 3rd century BC Aratus Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis middle...
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In beekeeping, a winter cluster is a well-defined cluster of honey bees that forms inside a beehive when the air temperature dips below 10 to 14 °C (50...
include the BeehiveCluster (a cluster of about 1000 stars), IC 523 (a galaxy), NGC 2731 (a spiral galaxy), M 67 star cluster (an old cluster of stars sometimes...
Pr0211 b are notable for being the first exoplanets discovered in the BeehiveCluster located in the constellation Cancer. Since Pr0201 b has a mass of about...
triangulation of the BeehiveCluster in 1894 and the two star clusters h Persei and χ Persei, which together form the Double Cluster, between 1891 and 1896...
of 245 star clusters compiled by British astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte. It was published in 1915 as A Catalogue of Star Clusters shown on Franklin-Adams...
zodiac constellation of Cancer. It is the brightest member of the BeehiveCluster with an apparent visual magnitude of +6.29, which is near the lower...
In beekeeping, a Langstroth hive is any vertically modular beehive that has the key features of vertically hung frames, a bottom board with entrance for...
be occulted by the Moon. In addition, two star clusters visible to the naked eye, the BeehiveCluster and the Pleiades, are often occulted. Depending...
"Discovery of Young, Isolated Planetary Mass Objects in the σ Orionis Star Cluster". Science. 290 (5489): 103–107. Bibcode:2000Sci...290..103Z. doi:10.1126/science...
"K2 Discovers a Busy Bee: An Unusual Transiting Neptune Found in the BeehiveCluster", The Astronomical Journal, 152 (6): 223, arXiv:1608.04760, Bibcode:2016AJ...
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