Beehive Cluster

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Messier 44 / Beehive Cluster
M44 47x300s-10degC O30 G0 PM RGB 03032022.jpg
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 designationsPraesepe, 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 Presepemap.png
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]

Contents

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.

History

In 1609, Galileo first telescopically observed the Beehive and was able to resolve it into 40 stars. Charles Messier added it to his famous catalog in 1769 after precisely measuring its position in the sky. Along with the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades cluster, Messier's inclusion of the Beehive has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets. Another possibility is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects, and so he added some well-known bright objects to boost his list. [13] Wilhelm Schur, as director of the Göttingen Observatory, drew a map of the cluster in 1894.

Wilhelm Schur's map of the Beehive Cluster in 1894 Wilhelm Schur, 004.jpg
Wilhelm Schur's map of the Beehive Cluster in 1894

Ancient Greeks and Romans saw this object as a manger from which two donkeys, the adjacent stars Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, are eating; these are the donkeys that Dionysos and Silenus rode into battle against the Titans. [14]

Hipparchus (c.130 BC) refers to the cluster as Nephelion ("Little Cloud") in his star catalog. [15] Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest includes the Beehive Cluster as one of seven "nebulae" (four of which are real [16] ), describing it as "The Nebulous Mass in the Breast (of Cancer)". [17] Aratus (c.260–270 BC) calls the cluster Achlus or "Little Mist" in his poem Phainomena. [15]

Johann Bayer showed the cluster as a nebulous star on his Uranometria atlas of 1603, and labeled it Epsilon. The letter is now applied specifically to the brightest star of the cluster Epsilon Cancri, of magnitude 6.29. [18]

This perceived nebulous object is in the Ghost (Gui Xiu), the 23rd lunar mansion of ancient Chinese astrology. Ancient Chinese skywatchers saw this as a ghost or demon riding in a carriage and likened its appearance to a "cloud of pollen blown from willow catkins". It was also known by the somewhat less romantic name of Jishi qi (積屍氣, also transliterated Tseih She Ke), the "Exhalation of Piled-up Corpses". [15] It is also known simply as Jishi (積屍), "cumulative corpses".

Morphology and composition

Like many star clusters of all kinds, Praesepe has experienced mass segregation. [7] [11] [19] This means that bright massive stars are concentrated in the cluster's core, while dimmer and less massive stars populate its halo (sometimes called the corona). The cluster's core radius is estimated at 3.5 parsecs (11.4 light years); its half-mass radius is about 3.9 parsecs (12.7 light years); and its tidal radius is about 12 parsecs (39 light years). [7] [11] However, the tidal radius also includes many stars that are merely "passing through" and not bona fide cluster members.

Widefield image of the Beehive Cluster M44 Heggie.jpg
Widefield image of the Beehive Cluster

Altogether, the cluster contains at least 1000 gravitationally bound stars, for a total mass of about 500–600 Solar masses. [7] [11] A recent survey counts 1010 high-probability members, of which 68% are M dwarfs, 30% are Sun-like stars of spectral classes F, G, and K, and about 2% are bright stars of spectral class A. [7] Also present are five giant stars, four of which have spectral class K0 III and the fifth G0 III. [4] [7] [20]

So far, eleven white dwarfs have been identified, representing the final evolutionary phase of the cluster's most massive stars, which originally belonged to spectral type B. [5] Brown dwarfs, however, are rare in this cluster, [21] probably because they have been lost by tidal stripping from the halo. [7] A brown dwarf has been found in the eclipsing binary system AD 3116. [22]

The cluster has a visual brightness of magnitude 3.7. Its brightest stars are blue-white and of magnitude 6 to 6.5. 42 Cancri is a confirmed member.

Photo of comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) next to Messier 44 Comet-Neat-Messier-44.jpeg
Photo of comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) next to Messier 44

Planets

In September 2012, two planets which orbit separate stars were discovered in the Beehive Cluster. The finding was significant for being the first planets detected orbiting stars like Earth's Sun that were situated in stellar clusters. Planets had previously been detected in such clusters, but not orbiting stars like the Sun. [23]

The planets have been designated Pr0201 b and Pr0211 b. The 'b' at the end of their names indicates that the bodies are planets. The discoveries are what have been termed hot Jupiters, massive gas giants that, unlike the planet Jupiter, orbit very close to their parent stars. [23]

The announcement describing the planetary finds, written by Sam Quinn as the lead author, was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Quinn's team worked with David Latham of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, utilizing the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. [23] [24]

In 2016 additional observations found a second planet in the Pr0211 system, Pr0211 c. This made Pr0211 the first multi-planet system to be discovered in an open cluster. [25]

The Kepler space telescope, in its K2 mission, discovered planets around several more stars in the Beehive Cluster. The stars K2-95, [26] K2-100, K2-101, K2-102, K2-103, and K2-104 [27] host a single planet each, and K2-264 has a two-planet system. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open cluster</span> Large group of stars less bound than globular clusters

An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of tens to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and many more are thought to exist. Each one is loosely bound by mutual gravitational attraction and becomes disrupted by close encounters with other clusters and clouds of gas as they orbit the Galactic Center. This can result in a loss of cluster members through internal close encounters and a dispersion into the main body of the galaxy. Open clusters generally survive for a few hundred million years, with the most massive ones surviving for a few billion years. In contrast, the more massive globular clusters of stars exert a stronger gravitational attraction on their members, and can survive for longer. Open clusters have been found only in spiral and irregular galaxies, in which active star formation is occurring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyades (star cluster)</span> Open cluster in the constellation Taurus

The Hyades is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Located about 153 light-years away from the Sun, it consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing the same age, place of origin, chemical characteristics, and motion through space. From the perspective of observers on Earth, the Hyades Cluster appears in the constellation Taurus, where its brightest stars form a "V" shape along with the still-brighter Aldebaran. However, Aldebaran is unrelated to the Hyades, as it is located much closer to Earth and merely happens to lie along the same line of sight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 4</span> Globular cluster in Scorpius

Messier 4 or M4 is a globular cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764. It was the first globular cluster in which individual stars were resolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orion Arm</span> Minor spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy; contains the Solar System

The Orion Arm, also known as the Orion–Cygnus Arm, is a minor spiral arm within the Milky Way Galaxy spanning 3,500 light-years in width and extending roughly 10,000 light-years in length. This galactic structure encompasses the Solar System, including Earth. It is sometimes referred to by alternate names such as the Local Arm or Orion Bridge, and it was previously identified as the Local Spur or the Orion Spur. It should not be confused with the outer terminus of the Norma Arm, known as the Cygnus Arm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omega Centauri</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus

Omega Centauri is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677. Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years, it is the largest-known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years. It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars, with a total mass of 4 million solar masses, making it the most massive known globular cluster in the Milky Way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 10</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus

Messier 10 or M10 is a globular cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. The object was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier on May 29, 1764, who cataloged it as number 10 in his catalogue and described it as a "nebula without stars". In 1774, German astronomer Johann Elert Bode likewise called it a "nebulous patch without stars; very pale". Using larger instrumentation, German-born astronomer William Herschel was able to resolve the cluster into its individual members. He described it as a "beautiful cluster of extremely compressed stars". William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse thought he could distinguish a dark lane through part of the cluster. The first to estimate the distance to the cluster was Harlow Shapley, although his derivation of 33,000 light years was much further than the modern value.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 21</span> Open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius

Messier 21 or M21, also designated NGC 6531 or Webb's Cross, is an open cluster of stars located to the north-east of Sagittarius in the night sky, close to the Messier objects M20 to M25. It was discovered and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. This cluster is relatively young and tightly packed. A few blue giant stars have been identified in the cluster, but Messier 21 is composed mainly of small dim stars. With a magnitude of 6.5, M21 is not visible to the naked eye; however, with the smallest binoculars it can be easily spotted on a dark night. The cluster is positioned near the Trifid nebula, but is not associated with that nebulosity. It forms part of the Sagittarius OB1 association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 25</span> Open cluster in Sagittarius

Messier 25, also known as IC 4725, is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Sagittarius. The first recorded observation of this cluster was made by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and it was included in Charles Messier's list of nebulous objects in 1764. The cluster is located near some obscuring features, with a dark lane passing near the center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 28</span> Globular cluster in the constellation of Sagittarius

Messier 28 or M28, also known as NGC 6626, is a globular cluster of stars in the center-west of Sagittarius. It was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764. He briefly described it as a "nebula containing no star... round, seen with difficulty in 31⁄2-foot telescope; Diam 2′."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 34</span> Open cluster in constellation Perseus

Messier 34 is a large and relatively near open cluster in Perseus. It was probably discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects in 1764. Messier described it as, "A cluster of small stars a little below the parallel of γ (Andromedae). In an ordinary telescope of 3 feet one can distinguish the stars."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 35</span> Open cluster in the constellation Gemini

Messier 35 or M35, also known as NGC 2168 or the Shoe-Buckle Cluster, is a relatively close open cluster of stars in the west of Gemini, at about the declination of the Sun when the latter is at June solstice. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux around 1745 and independently discovered by John Bevis before 1750. It is scattered over part of the sky almost the size of the full moon and is 2,970 light-years away. The compact open cluster NGC 2158 lies directly southwest of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 36</span> Open cluster in the constellation Auriga

Messier 36 or M36, also known as NGC 1960 or the Pinwheel Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the somewhat northern Auriga constellation. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654, who described it as a nebulous patch. The cluster was independently re-discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749, then Charles Messier observed it in 1764 and added it to his catalogue. It is about 1,330 pc away from Earth. The cluster is very similar to the Pleiades cluster (M45), and if as far away it would be of similar apparent magnitude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 39</span> Open cluster in the constellation Cygnus

Messier 39 or M39, also known as NGC 7092, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Cygnus, positioned two degrees to the south of the star Pi Cygni and around 9° east-northeast of Deneb. The cluster was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749, then Charles Messier added it to his catalogue in 1764. When observed in a small telescope at low power the cluster shows around two dozen members but is best observed with binoculars. It has a total integrated magnitude (brightness) of 5.5 and spans an angular diameter of 29 arcminutes – about the size of the full Moon. It is centered about 1,010 light-years away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnecke 4</span> Optical double star in the constellation Ursa Major

Winnecke 4 is an optical double star consisting of two unrelated stars in a northerly zone of the sky, Ursa Major.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 48</span> Open cluster in the constellation Hydra

Messier 48 or M48, also known as NGC 2548, is an open cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. It sits near Hydra's westernmost limit with Monoceros, about 18° 34′ to the east and slightly south of Hydra's brightest star, Alphard. This grouping was discovered by Charles Messier in 1771, but there is no cluster precisely where Messier indicated; he made an error, as he did with M47. The value that he gave for the right ascension matches, however, his declination is off by five degrees. Credit for discovery is sometimes given instead to Caroline Herschel in 1783. Her nephew John Herschel described it as, "a superb cluster which fills the whole field; stars of 9th and 10th to the 13th magnitude – and none below, but the whole ground of the sky on which it stands is singularly dotted over with infinitely minute points".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 50</span> Open cluster in the constellation Monoceros

Messier 50 or M 50, also known as NGC 2323 or the Heart-shaped Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Monoceros. It was recorded by G. D. Cassini before 1711 and independently discovered by Charles Messier in 1772 while observing Biela's Comet. It is sometimes described as a 'heart-shaped' figure or a blunt arrowhead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 67</span> Old open cluster in the constellation Cancer

Messier 67 and sometimes called the King Cobra Cluster or the Golden Eye Cluster is an open cluster in the southern, equatorial half of Cancer. It was discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in 1779. Estimates of its age range between 3.2 and 5 billion years. Distance estimates are likewise varied, but typically are 800–900 parsecs (2,600–2,900 ly). Estimates of 855, 840, and 815 pc were established via binary star modelling and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 75</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius

Messier 75 or M75, also known as NGC 6864, is a giant globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included in Charles Messier's catalog of comet-like objects that same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 84</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

Messier 84 or M84, also known as NGC 4374, is a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Charles Messier discovered the object in 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky. It is the 84th object in the Messier Catalogue and in the heavily populated core of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, part of the local supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 92</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Hercules

Messier 92 is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Hercules.

References

  1. ↑ "NGC 2632". sim-id. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  2. ↑ "Messier 44". SEDS . Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  3. ↑ "Messier 44: Observations and Descriptions".
  4. 1 2 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.
  5. 1 2 3 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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.
  8. ↑ WEBDA
  9. ↑ van Leeuwen, F. "Parallaxes and proper motions for 20 open clusters as based on the new Hipparcos catalogue", A&A, 2009
  10. ↑ 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
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 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 .
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Frommert, Hartmut (1998). "Messier Questions & Answers". SEDS. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 2005-03-01.
  14. ↑ "M44". SEDS . Retrieved 2005-02-06.
  15. 1 2 3 Allen, Richard Hinckley (1889). Star Names. p. 112.
  16. ↑ "The Discovery of the Deep Sky Objects".
  17. ↑ "Messier Object 44". SEDS . Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  18. ↑ "Cancer – the asses and the Manger". Star Tales (online edition). Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  19. ↑ Portegies Zwart SF; McMillan SL; Hut P; Makino J (2001). "Star cluster ecology IV. Dissection of an open star cluster: Photometry". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 321 (2): 199–226. arXiv: astro-ph/0005248 . Bibcode:2001MNRAS.321..199P. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.03976.x . S2CID   18396503.
  20. ↑ Abt HA; Willmarth DW (1999). "Binaries in the Praesepe and Coma star clusters and their implications for binary evolution". Astrophysical Journal . 521 (2): 682–690. Bibcode:1999ApJ...521..682A. doi: 10.1086/307569 . S2CID   119772785.
  21. ↑ Gonzalez-Garcia BM; Zapatero Osorio MR; Bejar VJS; Bihain G; et al. (2006). "A search for substellar members in the Praesepe and Sigma Orionis clusters". Astronomy & Astrophysics . 460 (3): 799–810. arXiv: astro-ph/0609283 . Bibcode:2006A&A...460..799G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065909. S2CID   119376131.
  22. ↑ Gillen, Edward; Hillenbrand, Lynne A.; et al. (November 2017). "New Low-mass Eclipsing Binary Systems in Praesepe Discovered by K2". The Astrophysical Journal . 849 (1): 11. arXiv: 1706.03084 . Bibcode:2017ApJ...849...11G. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa84b3 .
  23. 1 2 3 Quinn, Samuel N.; White, Russel J.; et al. (September 2012). "Two "b"s in the Beehive: The Discovery of the First Hot Jupiters in an Open Cluster". The Astrophysical Journal Letters . 756 (2): L33. arXiv: 1207.0818 . Bibcode:2012ApJ...756L..33Q. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/756/2/L33. S2CID   118825401.
  24. ↑ "First Planets Found Around Sun-Like Stars in a Cluster". Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  25. ↑ Malavolta, L.; Nascimbeni, V.; et al. (April 2016). "The GAPS programme with HARPS-N at TNG. XI. Pr 0211 in M 44: the first multi-planet system in an open cluster". Astronomy & Astrophysics . 588: A118. arXiv: 1602.00009 . Bibcode:2016A&A...588A.118M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527933. S2CID   119207951.
  26. ↑ Obermeier, Christian; Henning, Thomas; et al. (December 2016). "K2 Discovers a Busy Bee: An Unusual Transiting Neptune Found in the Beehive Cluster". The Astronomical Journal . 152 (6): 223. arXiv: 1608.04760 . Bibcode:2016AJ....152..223O. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/152/6/223 .
  27. ↑ Mann, Andrew W.; Gaidos, Eric; et al. (February 2017). "Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT). IV. Seven Transiting Planets in the Praesepe Cluster". The Astronomical Journal . 153 (2): 64. arXiv: 1609.00726 . Bibcode:2017AJ....153...64M. doi:10.1088/1361-6528/aa5276. S2CID   119260879.
  28. ↑ Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Vanderburg, Andrew; et al. (November 2018). "Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT). VIII. A Two-planet System in Praesepe from K2 Campaign 16". The Astronomical Journal . 156 (5): 195. arXiv: 1808.07068 . Bibcode:2018AJ....156..195R. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/aadf37 .
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