This is not one of my brighter ideas, in that I took this LRGB image under my Bortle 7 sky during bright moon glow. (Around 98%). However, it was an interesting experiment in data collection and processing. I tried to both limit data acquisition (very short subs and my L was not an LP filter) during high moon altitudes and various adjustments to GraXpert (also tried DBE), as well as a little help from PS. I also used -5 degrees on the camera as it struggled in the heat to get lower. So, I was overall pleased with the outcome.
While M44 is by no means one of the more eye-catching clusters, it holds a
fascinating place in history & mythology. Here are a few examples:
- The Greek poet Aratos mentions M44 as the "Little Mist" in 260 B.C.
- Hipparchus included it in his star catalog as the "Little Cloud" or "Cloudy Star" in 130 B.C.
- The Greek astronomer Ptolemy described it in his Almagest as the "Nebulous Mass in the Breast of Cancer".
- Praesepe means manger. The ancient Greeks and Romans saw this cluster as a manger for which two donkeys, the adjacent stars y CNC and ð CnC are eating. Eratosthenes reported that these two donkeys were ridden into battle against the Titans by the gods Dionysos and Silenus. Ancient Chinese saw this cluster as a ghost or demon riding in a carriage and likened its appearance to a "cloud of pollen blown from willows". It is the main celestial object in the 23rd lunar mansion of ancient Chinese astrology. Praesepe appeared on Johann Bayer's charts as "Nubilum" ("Cloudy") around 1600. However, its true nature remained until Galileo looked at the cluster through his newly-invented telescope in 1609, as he reported it as, "The nebula called Praesepe is not one star only, but a mass of more than 40 small stars". Massier included it in this catalog in 1769.
- Curiously, the origins of its most popular name, the Beehive, is unknown.
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