| Description | Messier recorded this open cluster on the same day as M36, September 2, 1764. Le Gentil had missed this cluster when he rediscovered M36 and M38 in 1749, and Messier was probably unaware that Giovanni Batista Hodierna had recorded it before 1654. So it's likely Messier believed he'd discovered it himself. His entry describes, "Cluster of small stars, little remote from the preceding [M36]....The stars are smaller, more close together". <--> The salt and pepper moniker presumably refers to the mix of blue and red stars and the seemingly random pattern of stars, like salt and pepper spilled onto a table. |
