Messier Objects - M37

On Friday, February 17, 2017 I spent some time observing at the observatory.  Auriga and Orion were the only constellations that were cloud free at the time.  I used the telescope to find Beta Tauri (Elnath) and moved it up towards Theta Aurigae.  I found M36 as a sparse open cluster of several dozen relatively bright stars.  I moved the telescope across the line between Beta Tauri and Theta Aurigae until I saw another faint blurry patch of light in the finderscope.  When I looked through the main telescope I saw an amazing sight.  Messier 37 contained hundreds of stars, some too faint to be resolved.  Also, quite fortunately, M37 is part of the deep-sky observation requirements for the Explore the Universe certification. The observation log is provided below.

M37 Observation Record

Discovered in 1654 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Hodierna, Messier 37 is the brightest of the three Messier objects found throughout Auriga.  There are more than 500 identified stars with several red giants.  The cluster is about 4500 light years away and extends more than 20 light years from its center.

One month after my initial observation I was able to setup my C11 to image this great cluster.  It is shown below.  If you look closely you can see some of the red giants.

M37, March 19, 2017