Back Messier 38 Afrikaans مسييه 38 Arabic Cúmulu abiertu M38 AST NGC 1912 Azerbaijani M38 (аб’ект Месье) Byelorussian M38 BE-X-OLD M38 Bulgarian Messier 38 BS Messier 38 Catalan NGC 1912 CE

Messier 38

Messier 38
M38 open cluster
Observation data (J2000.0 epoch)
Right ascension05h 28m 43s[1]
Declination+35° 51′ 18″[1]
Distance3,480 ly (1.066 kpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)7.4
Apparent dimensions (V)21′
Physical characteristics
Radius4pc. (13 ly.)
Estimated age250[2] Myr
Other designationsNGC 1912[3]
Associations
ConstellationAuriga
See also: Open cluster, List of open clusters

Messier 38 or M38, also known as NGC 1912 or Starfish Cluster,[4] is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Auriga. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and independently found by Le Gentil in 1749. The open clusters M36 and M37, also discovered by Hodierna, are often grouped together with M38.[5] Distance is about 1.066 kpc (3,480 ly) away from Earth.[2] The open cluster NGC 1907 lies nearby on the sky, but the two are most likely just experiencing a fly-by, having originated in different parts of the galaxy.[1]

The cluster's brightest stars form a pattern resembling the Greek letter Pi or, according to Webb, an "oblique cross". Walter Scott Houston described its appearance as follows:[6]

Photographs usually show a departure from circularity, a feature quite evident to visual observers. Older reports almost always mention a cross shape, which seems more pronounced with small instruments. A view with a 24-inch reflector on a fine Arizona night showed the cluster as irregular, and the host of stars made fruitless any effort to find a geometrical figure.

At its distance of 1066 pc., its angular diameter of about 20 arc minutes corresponds to about 4.0 parsecs (13 light years), similar to that of its more distant neighbor M37. It is of intermediate age at about 290 million years.[2] From the population of about 100 stars,[7] this open cluster features a prominent yellow giant with the apparent magnitude +7.9 and spectral type G0 as its brightest member. This corresponds to an absolute magnitude of -1.5, or a luminosity of 900 Suns. For comparison, the Sun would appear as a faint magnitude +15.3 star from the distance of M38.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference deOliveira2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference webda2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference simbad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Carter, J. (2015). March: The Plane Truth. In A Stargazing Program for Beginners (pp. 57-85). Springer, Cham.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Majaess2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSH2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference webda2018a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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