M50 or NGC 2323 – A Beautiful “Heart” shaped Open Star Cluster in Monoceros.
M50 Open Star Cluster is composed of stars ranging from the 8th to the 16th magnitude.
The Cluster is Fantastic in any size telescope and easily visible in binoculars with an apparent magnitude of 5.9.
It is Located 2,870 light years from Earth.
Messier 50 has an angular diameter of about 15 by 20 arc minutes, corresponding to a spatial diameter of 20 light years.
The dense core of the cluster spans only 10 arc minutes or 10 light years(58 trillion miles).
M50 has an estimated age of 78 million years, which makes it a very young cluster. It is composed of many young, hot, luminous blue stars. It also contains several yellow giants and a red M-class giant, which is positioned 7 arc minutes south of the cluster’s center.
TPO 12 inch F4 scope Newtonian telescope, HAP Modified Canon 6D DSLR, ISO 800, 7 minute exposure.
Captured on 01-07-2022 at my Observatories in Yellow Springs, Ohio USA.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com
