My Astrophotography – Messier 41

Messier 41 (Open Cluster) / NGC 2287 / Little Beehive Cluster

• Found just about four degrees directly south of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
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• It is a stunning, easy target for standard 10×50 binoculars and wide-field low-power telescope eyepieces.
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• Its bright red giant stars ~ M41 contains several red or orange giants, including a prominent central K‑type giant of magnitude +6.7 ~ these give the cluster its warm, colourful look.
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• Object Name
  M41

• Object Type
  Open Cluster

• Constellation
  Canis Major

• Magnitude
  +4.5

• Distance
  2,300 light-years

• Age
  190 billion years

Telescope:

Mount:

Accessories:

Sky-Watcher Esprint 80ED Triplet

Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT

ZWO ASIair Plus / PixInsight

Camera:

Guiding:

Filter:

ZWO ASI585MC Pro cooling

ZWO ASI1200MM

2″ Optolong eNchance

• Date:
  Wednesday 24th September 2025
  

• Moonlit:
  Waxing Crescent 3 days old
  Magnitude: -9.8
  Moonlit: 7.8%

• Total:
  180’s x 10 subs = 30 minutes

Object :-

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Object :-

Other name :-

Type :-

Magnitude :–

Distance :-

Constellation :-

Right Ascension :-

Declination :-

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M41

NGC 2287 / Cr 118 / Little Beehive Cluster

Open Cluster

+4.5

2,300 light years / 26 light years across

CMa (Canis Major / The Great Dogs)

06h 46m 00s

-20° 46′ 38″

Enlarge on click the map.

(Click the map above for a large view.)