The dazzling 4.5-magnitude open star cluster M41 dangles in Canis Main some 4° south of Sirius, the brightest star within the night time sky. From a darkish website, the cluster shines to the unaided eyes as a misty glow, like a metallic tag on the collar of the celestial Canine.
M41 might have been recognized by Aristotle, who described a star with a tail within the Canine — not stunning coming from a person who took a shining curiosity in comets. At present, the cluster seems to unaided eyes precisely as he described: a round type with a dim extension to the north.
The cluster lies about 2,300 light-years distant and is 240 million years outdated. There’s little intervening dust to have an effect on its look, so its 100-odd stars shine with unusual purity. Not less than three of them are seventh magnitude and ought to be inside vary for sharp-eyed, naked-eye observers. Handheld binoculars will resolve a few dozen members. Roughly 50 of its stars shine between seventh and thirteenth magnitude, placing them inside attain of small- to moderate-sized telescopes.
M41’s stars will fill a telescopic discipline of view 30 % bigger than the Full Moon. Search for a placing reddish star on the coronary heart of the sprawling cluster, with streams of irregularly shiny suns curling outward. The view is greatest at low energy. Bigger-aperture telescopes will reveal the presence of many crimson (or orange) big stars; the most popular star is of spectral sort A. As much as 80 % of its stars could also be binaries. Whereas we can’t see most of those, lots of the cluster’s seen stars do type pairings.
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