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• RA: 08:40.1
• Dec: +19:59
• Magnitude: 3.7
• Distance: 577 ly
• Size:  95.0 arc min
• Constellation:  Cancer

• Scope: Orion ED80
• Autoguider:  ST-4 in faint mode
• Sky conditions:  good transparency and good seeing
• Camera: Hap Griffin modified Canon 350XT ISO800
• Exposure:  10 X 2 minutes
• Date:  March 21, 2009 and April 17, 2009

Comments:  These were a rather cool "Spring" nights in Northern Illinois with a low in the 30s.  M44 is also called Praesepe (Latin for "manger") or the beehive cluster.  It is one of the objects easily visible to the naked eye and has been known since prehistoric times.  Aratos (260 BC) mentioned this object as "Little Mist", Hipparcos (130 BC) included this object in his star catalog as "Little Cloud" or "Cloudy Star"  Galileo first resolved this "nebulous" object as a mass of more than 40 small stars.  With larger telescopes more than 200 of the 350 stars in the cluster area have been confirmed as members.  M44 is estimated to have an age of about 730 million years. This was shot over two different sessions because I accidentally erased six of the images from the first session.