Beehive Cluster (Messier 44 / Praesepe)
Coordinates, Gaia DR3 distance (186.2 pc), magnitude 3.1, exoplanet hosts, and observing guide for the Beehive Cluster (M44 / NGC 2632).
Provenance-Backed Scientific Measurements
Every measurement below preserves its unit, uncertainty interval, observational method, reference epoch, quality status, and primary catalog source. See Uncertainty & Provenance for how competing measurements are handled.
| Parameter | Value | Uncertainty | Method & Epoch | Quality Status | Source Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated visual magnitude (V) | 3.1 mag | ± 0.1 mag | Integrated wide-field photometry | definitive | Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) |
| Mean cluster distance | 186.2 pc | ± 1.4 pc | Gaia DR3 astrometric parallax of ~1,100 member stars (J2016.0) | definitive | ESA Gaia Archive — Data Release 3 |
| Cluster age | 0.67 Gyr | ± 0.06 Gyr | Main-sequence turnoff & gyrochronology | high-confidence | ESA Gaia Archive — Data Release 3 |
| Apparent diameter | 95 arcmin | ± 8 arcmin | Member star-count radius | high-confidence | Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) |
J2000 Equatorial Sky Chart & Culmination Altitude
The chart below plots Beehive Cluster (Messier 44 Praesepe) at RA 08h 40m 24.00s, Dec +19° 40′ 00.0″ within Cancer, alongside peak meridian transit altitudes for 40°N and 30°S observers. Use the RA/Dec Coordinate Converter to compute exact culmination altitude for your latitude.
Astrophysical Context & Structure
The Beehive Cluster (Messier 44, NGC 2632, or Praesepe—Latin for 'the Manger') is a rich, nearby open cluster located 186.2 ± 1.4 parsecs (607 light-years) away in Cancer. Known since antiquity to Aratus, Hipparchus, and Ptolemy as a 'little mist' flanked by the two 'Asses' (Gamma and Delta Cancri), Praesepe was first resolved into more than 40 individual stars by Galileo Galilei in 1609 with his early refractor.
Strikingly, M44 shares nearly the same age (~670 million years), supersolar chemical abundance ([Fe/H] ≈ +0.14 dex), and three-dimensional Galactic space velocity as the Hyades, suggesting that both clusters condensed out of the same giant molecular cloud complex before drifting apart.
In 2012, radial-velocity surveys discovered Pr 0201 b and Pr 0211 b inside M44—the first hot Jupiters ever found orbiting sun-like main-sequence stars inside a dense open cluster—followed by multiple sub-Neptunes detected by the Kepler K2 mission.
Practical Visual Observing Guide
- Under dark skies M44 is easily visible to the naked eye as a 1.5°-wide misty patch midway between Regulus in Leo and Pollux/Castor in Gemini.
- In 10×50 binoculars or a low-power wide-field telescope (15×–30×), dozens of 6th-to-8th magnitude white A-type stars and several contrasting orange K-giants arrange themselves into geometric triangles and pairs resembling a swarming beehive.
- Ancient skywatchers used Praesepe as a weather indicator: because its integrated magnitude is 3.1, high thin cirrus clouds hide the cluster before dimming the surrounding 4th-magnitude stars.
Catalog Cross-Identifications & Aliases
Common Aliases: M44 · Praesepe · NGC 2632 · Manger Cluster
| Catalog Authority | Identifier |
|---|---|
| MESSIER | M 44 |
| NGC | NGC 2632 |
| SIMBAD | M 44 |
| WIKIDATA | Q13900 |
Related Objects, Comparisons & Guides
Pleiades (Messier 45 Open Cluster)
Coordinates, Gaia DR3 distance (136.2 pc), magnitude 1.6, reflection nebulosity, and observing guide for the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus.
Hyades (Melotte 25 Nearest Cluster)
Coordinates, Gaia DR3 distance (47.0 pc), age 650 Myr, moving-group kinematics, and observing guide for the Hyades cluster in Taurus.
Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884)
Coordinates, Gaia DR3 distance (2.29 kpc), age 14 Myr, supergiant population, and observing guide for NGC 869 and NGC 884 in Perseus.
Pleiades (M45) vs Beehive (M44) Comparison
Compare the two brightest Messier open clusters—the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus and Beehive Cluster (Praesepe, M44) in Cancer—in age, distance, and stars.
Binocular Deep-Sky Objects Observing Guide
How to observe open clusters, globular clusters, diffuse nebulae, and Local Group galaxies with 7x50, 10x50, and 15x70 astronomy binoculars.
Small-Telescope Messier Objects Tour (80–150mm)
Curated seasonal tour of flagship Messier clusters, nebulae, and galaxies optimized for 80 mm to 150 mm (3-inch to 6-inch) refractors and reflectors.
Apparent vs Absolute Magnitude Explained
Understand the logarithmic Pogson astronomical magnitude scale, apparent visual magnitude (m), absolute magnitude (M at 10 parsecs), and bolometric corrections.
Trigonometric Parallax, Parsecs & Gaia DR3
How trigonometric parallax (d_pc = 1 / p_arcsec), the distance modulus equation, Hipparcos, and Gaia DR3 microarcsecond astrometry measure cosmic distances.
Messier Catalog (M) Objects & Cross-Reference
Guide and cross-walk to Charles Messier's flagship deep-sky catalog (M1 to M104 in FastAstro), linking Messier numbers to NGC IDs, distances, and magnitudes.
Galactic Open Clusters Reference Catalog
Cross-reference catalog of nearby galactic disk open star clusters—Hyades, Pleiades (M45), Beehive (M44), and Double Cluster (NGC 869/884)—with Gaia DR3 data.
Scientific Sources & Dataset Provenance
- ESA Gaia Archive — Data Release 3 (DR3 (2022-06-13)): Gaia Collaboration, Vallenari, A., et al. 2023, A&A, 674, A1 (Gaia Data Release 3) — European Space Agency / Gaia DPAC
- Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) (2024/2026 edition): Steinicke, W. 2010, Observing and Cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters (Cambridge Univ. Press); Verga, M. OpenNGC (CC-BY-SA 4.0 / data tables) — Wolfgang Steinicke / OpenNGC
- NASA Exoplanet Archive (2026-10-01 snapshot): Akeson, R. L., et al. 2013, PASP, 125, 989; NASA Exoplanet Archive (IPAC/Caltech) — NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI / Caltech / IPAC)