| Description | Like M36, modern scholarship attributes discovery of this small open cluster to Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654. It, along with M36, was independently discovered by Le Gentil in 1749. Charles Messier was probably aware of this, though his catalog entry for September 25, 1764 (3 weeks after M36/37), is silent on discovery. <--> This cluster features an inner and outer pentagram etched by predominantly blue stars, though Messier's entry describes it as "square". This was the fourth capture of a strange evening when it rained right up to the moment it cleared around 9 PM. Because of the 93% moon, I had planned to capture a number of Messier objects, mostly clusters, using my EdgeHD. However, because of the late rain, I couldn't set up in advance, so I decided to observe with the Seestar instead. |
