SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
massimo.difusco
Location of Photo:
Ferrara (Italy)
Date/Time of photo:
06/03/2025 21:00
Equipment:
Konus 200/1000 @950mm, Player One Poseidon-C camera, Sky-Watcher Eq6r Pro mount, Optolong L-Quad Enhance filter
Description:
Messier 50 (also known aas M50, NGC 2323 or the Heart-Shaped Cluster) is a large, bright open cluster located in the constellation Monoceros. The cluster has an apparent magnitude of 5.9 and lies at an approximate distance of 3200 light years from Earth. Messier 50 has an angular diameter of about 15 by 20 arc minutes, corresponding to a spatial diameter of 20 light years. The dense core of the cluster spans only 10 arc minutes or 10 light years. M50 has an estimated age of 78 million years, which makes it a very young cluster. It is composed of many young, hot, luminous blue stars. It also contains several yellow giants and a red M-class giant, which is positioned 7 arc minutes south of the cluster’s centre.
