Telescope Reviews: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44

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Astrophotography and Sketching >> Sketching

rodelaet
Post Laureate

Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3063
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)

Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44
04/05/08 06:38 PM Attachment (96 downloads)

M44 in Cancer is a typical binocular object. With a total magnitude of 3.1 the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe was known since antiquity. And indeed, at a distance of 520 lightyears, the cluster is faintly visible as a large nebulous patch to the naked eye. With a simple pair of binoculars the patch resolves into a beautiful V-shaped open cluster measuring more than 1° across. Several multiple stars are visible at low power. The binocular view is perfect for such a large object. Most telescopes don't offer a wide enough view to show the cluster in it's 'natural environment'. While studying the object, I got the impression of a deeper darkness behind the cluster, compared to the overal background brightness. Could this be an optical effect created by the contrast between the cluster stars and the background? I don't know if it shows in the sketch. The bright star in the lower left part of the sketch is Delta Cancri. The one in the upper left corner is Gamma Cancri.

Observing data:
Date : March 31, 2008
Time : around 20.30UT
Binoculars : Bresser 8x56
FOV: 5,9°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 2,5/5
Nelm : 5,0
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

--------------------
Rony

My Astronomical Sketches

My Binocular Sketches

Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.

Edited by rodelaet (04/06/08 06:47 AM)

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Subject	Posted by	Posted on
Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	rodelaet	04/05/08 06:38 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	frank5817	04/05/08 07:20 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	rodelaet	04/06/08 07:00 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	Rogerio	04/06/08 07:16 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	xfile101	04/06/08 09:58 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	rodelaet	04/06/08 04:46 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	Jeff Young	04/08/08 10:29 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	Mark9473	04/09/08 04:52 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	rodelaet	04/10/08 04:56 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	CarlosEH	04/15/08 04:10 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	WadeVC	04/19/08 02:48 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	rodelaet	04/24/08 12:10 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	KennyJ	04/26/08 10:45 AM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	RichD	04/26/08 04:29 PM
Re: Binocular Icon 2 : The Beehive Cluster, M44	rodelaet	04/27/08 03:09 PM

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