Open cluster M36

About the object

Open cluster M36 in Auriga, the youngest of the three Messier clusters in this constellation: about twenty-five million years old, a few dozen hot blue stars and not a single red giant, because none of the stars has had time to age. In the sky it is compact, a third of the Moon across, and looks like a miniature Pleiades.

Distance: about 4,100 light-years, apparent size in the sky: ≈ 12′, constellation Auriga.

How it was shot

Everything here was shot with a DWARF Mini smart telescope from a balcony in a city in Ukraine: light-polluted sky, only the eastern half of it visible, and a roof overhang that cuts off the south. 1 night (in September), 1 session, 195 frames with exposures of 30 s, without a filter, in broadband. The stack holds 1 h 38 min of light. The goal for this object is 1 h, and it is reached.

Open cluster M36 in the night log: 29 September.

How it went

One night of thirty-second frames without a filter, with slightly higher gain than usual for clusters. The blue stars on the dark background came out clean, and the goal was closed in one session. Together with M37 and M38 it forms the Auriga trio, convenient to shoot one after another in a single evening.