SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
massimo.difusco
Location of Photo:
Rio Hurtado (Chile)
Date/Time of photo:
31/12/2025 04:00
Equipment:
Data acquired at Chilescope: ASA Newton 500 @1900mm, ASA DDM85 equatorial Mount, FLI PL16803 CCD camera, Astrodon R/G/B filters 3x(2x300")
Description:
Messier 46 (also known as M46 or NGC 2437) is an open star cluster located in the southern constellation Puppis, the Stern. It occupies an area of 27 arc minutes of apparent sky, almost the size of the full Moon, and has a spatial diameter of 30 light years. M46 is a relatively bright, large cluster containing about 500 stars, with an estimated age of 300 million years. It has an apparent magnitude of 6.1 and lies at an approximate distance of 5400 light years from Earth. The cluster is classified as Trumpler type II,2,r, which means that it is detached from the surrounding field, but its stars are not very concentrated toward the centre (II), the stars have a moderate range of brightness (2), and the cluster is richly populated (r), with more than 100 confirmed members.
