Messier 41

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Messier 41
M41-noao.jpg
Open cluster Messier 41 in Canis Major
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Right ascension 06h 46.0m [1]
Declination −20° 46′ [1]
Distance 2,360 ly [2] (725 pc)
Apparent magnitude  (V)4.5 [1]
Apparent dimensions (V)38 arcmin [3]
Physical characteristics
Radius12.5 ly
Estimated age200 million yrs [2]
Other designationsM41, [1] NGC 2287 [1]
Associations
Constellation Canis Major
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

Messier 41 (also known as M41 or NGC 2287) is an open cluster in the constellation Canis Major. Located approximately four degrees south of Sirius, it forms a roughly equilateral triangle with Sirius and Nu2 Canis Majoris, visible together in binoculars. [4] The cluster spans an area comparable to the size of the full moon and contains about 100 stars, including several red giants and white dwarfs. [4] [5]

Contents

Discovery and history

Discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654, M41 may have been observed by Aristotle as early as 325 BC. [6] It is sometimes called the Little Beehive Cluster due to its resemblance to the Beehive Cluster (M44). [7]

Characteristics

The brightest star in M41 is a red giant of spectral type K3 with an apparent magnitude of 6.3 near the cluster's center. [8] The cluster has a diameter of 25–26 light-years (7.7–8.0  pc ) and is receding from Earth at 23.3 km/s. [1] Estimates suggest an age of 190 million years, with a predicted lifespan of 500 million years before disintegration. [9]

Observation

Walter Scott Houston noted its appearance in small telescopes: [10]

Many visual observers speak of seeing curved lines of stars in M41. Although they seem inconspicuous on photographs, the curves stand out strongly in my 10-inch [reflecting telescope], and the bright red star near the center of the cluster is prominent.

The prominent red-orange central star, HIP 32406, is a K2-type giant of magnitude 6.9, located ~1,500 light-years away. [11]

See also

References

[2]


  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "M 41". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2006-12-21.
  2. 1 2 3 Harris, G. (October 1993). "NGC 2287 - an important intermediate-age open cluster". The Astronomical Journal. 106 (4): 1533–1546. doi:10.1086/116748. ISSN   0004-6256.
  3. ↑ "Messier Object 41". SEDS . Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  4. 1 2 Kambic, Bojan (2009). Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars: 250+ Wonderful Sky Objects to See and Explore. New York, New York: Springer. p. 230. ISBN   978-0-387-85355-0.
  5. ↑ Koester, D. Reimers, D. (1981), "Spectroscopic identification of white dwarfs in Galactic Clusters I. NGC2287 and NGC3532", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 99, L8-11
  6. ↑ M41 possibly recorded by Aristotle
  7. ↑ The Dog Star and the Little Beehive Cluster
  8. ↑ De Laet, Rony (2011). The Casual Sky Observer's Guide: Stargazing with Binoculars and Small Telescopes. New York, New York: Springer. pp. 95–97. ISBN   978-1-4614-0595-5.
  9. ↑ Stoyan, Ronald (2008). Atlas of the Messier Objects: Highlights of the Deep Sky. Cambridge University Press. p. 171. ISBN   9780521895545.
  10. ↑ Houston, Walter Scott (2005). Deep-Sky Wonders. Sky Publishing Corporation. ISBN   978-1-931559-23-2.
  11. ↑ Dobbie, P, Day-Jones, A, Williams, K, Casewell, S, Burleigh, M, Lodieu, N, Parker, Q, Baxter, R, (2012), "Further investigation of white dwarfs in the open clusters NGC2287 and NGC3532", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 423, 2815–2828



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