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M 44 on 2026-01-16,18,19 THE BEEHIVE CLUSTER
M 44, the Beehive Cluster, also named NGC 2632, is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. One of the nearest open clusters to Earth, it contains a larger population of stars than other nearby bright open clusters with about 1,000 stars. In 2012, astronomers found two planets in the Beehive. The planets orbit two different stars. The planets’ designations are Pr0201b and Pr0211b. Both of these planets are hot Jupiters, that is, massive gas giants, in both cases orbiting very close to their stars. M 44 is located about 610 light years from Earth. This photo was taken in Kyle, Texas through a 4.5-inch f/4 Telescope on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, with a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera plus an Optolong L Pro Light Pollution Filter. The processing was done in PixInsight. The total image acquisition time is: 10 hrs 23 min 00 sec.