Messier Object 38 (original) (raw)
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Open ClusterM38 (NGC 1912), type 'e', in Auriga
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| Right Ascension | 05 : 28.4 (h:m) |
|---|---|
| Declination | +35 : 50 (deg:m) |
| Distance | 4.2 (kly) |
| Visual Brightness | 7.4 (mag) |
| Apparent Dimension | 21.0 (arc min) |
Discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654.
Messier 38 (M38, NGC 1912) is one of the three Messier open clusters in the southern part of constellation Auriga.
Lying only 2.5 degree northwest (preceding) of M36, this cluster was silently discovered by Hodierna before 1654, and independently found by Le Gentilin 1749. Charles Messier included it in his catalog on September 25, 1764.
Its brightest stars form a pattern resembling the Greek letter Pi, or (according to Webb) an "oblique cross". At its distance of 4,200 light years, its angular diameter of about 20' corresponds to about 25 light years, similar to that of its more distant neighbor M37. It is of intermediate age (about 220 million years according to the Sky Catalog 2000) and contains a yellow giant of mag 7.9 and spectral type G0 as its brightest member - this corresponds to an absolute magnitude of -1.5, or a luminosity of 900 suns. For comparison, the Sun would appear as faint as only mag 15.3 from the distance of M38 !
Kenneth Glyn Jones has a significantly smaller distance of only 2,750 light years. The Trumpler class of M38 is given as II,2,r by all sources.
- Historical Observations and Descriptions of M38
- More images of M38
- Amateur images of M38
- More images of M36, M37, and M38
- More images of M36 and M38
- WEBDA cluster page for M38
- SIMBAD Data of M38
- NED Data of M38
- Publications on M38 (NASA ADS)
- Observing Reports for M38 (IAAC Netastrocatalog)
- NGC Online data for M38
Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
[contact]
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Last Modification: August 25, 2007