🔭 M46

Open cluster in Puppis

M46 is a open cluster in the constellation Puppis, with an apparent magnitude of about 6, roughly 5.4 thousand light-years away.

Data

Catalogue designation	M46
Object type	Open cluster
Constellation	Puppis
NGC / IC	NGC 2437
Apparent magnitude	6
Distance (approx.)	5.4 thousand light-years

What a open cluster is

A loose, young family of a few dozen to a few thousand stars born together from the same gas cloud and drifting apart over time. The Pleiades are the most famous example.

Other Messier objects in Puppis: M47, M93.

Data: Messier catalogue & IAU constellations, via English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) · stored statically.