Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
10x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Orion ED80 with WO 0.8 reducer/flattener vII

M36 (NGC 1960) is an open cluster in the constellation Auriga. It is part of a well known triplet of open clusters - the others being M37 and M38 - in this constellation that are favorite targets of amateur star-gazers.

M36 is about 4,100 light years distant and 14 light years across. It has about 60 proven members, the brightest of which are of apparent mag 9. The luminosity of the brightest member is about 360 times that of the Sun. Many of these bright stars are rapidly rotating, as shown by their broadened spectral lines, an effect which is also found for the bright type B members of the Pleiades. If it were at the same distance (10 times closer), this cluster would look as conspicuous as and very similar to the Pleiades (M45).

As it is quite young (about 25 million years), it contains no red giants, in contrast to its neighbors M37 and M38, which lie roughly at the same distance.

November 22, 2008