M46 (Gary Imm) - AstroBin

Celestial hemisphere: Southern · Constellation: Puppis (Pup) · Contains: M 46 · NGC 2425 · NGC 2437 · NGC 2438 · PK231+04.1 · PK231+04.2 · The star 140 Pup · The star 2 Pup A · The star 2 Pup B

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M46

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M46

This fascinating Messier object is a combination planetary nebula and open star cluster. It is located in the southern constellation of Puppis at a declination of -15 degrees. It is about 35 arc-minutes in diameter.

The cluster contains over 500 stars and is located 5000 light years away. Its Trumpler designation is II-2-r, indicating a loose open cluster with a range of star brightnesses. Note the star cluster NGC 2524 to the right edge of the image.

The planetary nebula NGC 2438 is not likely related to the cluster, but is simply in our line of sight. The nebula is believed to be about 3000 light years away. I don't believe that the cluster itself is spectacular in terms of color or configuration, but the fact that a planetary nebula is superimposed over it makes it special.

A 2nd, fainter planetary nebula is seen halfway to the top of the image, PK231+4.1.

M46 lies about 1 degree east of M47, as shown in Revision G.

I am not a huge fan of imaging star clusters, but my original Messier star cluster images taken 7 years ago were lacking in color and contrast quality. This image is part of my effort this year to update and improve my Messier Collection.

Original
G

G

Description: M46 and M47

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The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	9097562
PixInsight job	K63S2HWWCHO147IF0N1D4LQWX4N500YS
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	07h41m36s.87
RA (top/left)	07h45m31s.97
RA (top/right)	07h37m49s.66
RA (bottom/right)	07h37m40s.20
RA (bottom/left)	07h45m25s.84

Dec (center)	-14°49′48″.6
Dec (top/left)	-14°02′21″.5
Dec (top/right)	-14°00′14″.9
Dec (bottom/right)	-15°36′52″.3
Dec (bottom/left)	-15°39′10″.5

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