The Beehive Cluster
Essential facts
First seen: 1609
Taken with a dwarf lab telescope
Status: 600 light-years away
Rating: ★★★★★
The history
Known since ancient times, classical astronomer Ptolemy described it as a "nebulous mass in the breast of cancer". The Latin name praesepe means "manger" or "crib". In 1609, Galileo Galilei became the first person to study the cluster with a telescope, resolving around 40 stars. Charles messier added it as object 44 in his famous catalog so astronomers would not mistake the fuzzy patch for a comet.
Stamp collection