Praesepe cluster

From Scope F70076

May 10, 2008. There were only some slights clouds in the sky near the horizon, but still I think that not more than twenty stars were visible in the whole sky. In fact I found the Praesepe cluster (the Messier object M44) easily because the Moon was near it, but it should also be possible to find it by moving from Pollux, one of the two brightest stars in Gemini, towards Delta Cancri.

Praesepe cluster is in the constellation Cancer near the stars Delta and Gamma Cancri. It filled all the field of view of the 20mm eyepiece, but what I saw was really nothing than maybe twenty stars, not closer together than the stars usually are for example in the constellation Cygnus on the Milky Way. I didn't really see anything more through the 12.5mm eyepiece, except that it seemed to me that I saw some very faint nebulosity near some groups of three and more stars, but I couldn't be sure in that.

The Praesepe cluster was first mentioned by Aratos in 260 B.C.