Beehive Cluster

space · stars · clusters

Looks like a cloud. To the naked eye under dark skies, the Beehive Cluster appears as a fuzzy, glowing blob rather than individual stars. Ancient astronomers thought it looked like a nebula, or cloud of gas, which is why Ptolemy described it as a nebulous mass in the breast of the Cancer constellation.

Home to 1,000 stars. The Beehive Cluster contains roughly 1,000 stars all born from the same cloud of gas and dust. This makes it one of the largest nearby star clusters visible from Earth, with more stars than other bright open clusters close to us.

Galileo's discovery. When Galileo pointed his telescope at the night sky in the early 1600s, the Beehive Cluster was among the first objects he studied. His telescope revealed individual stars where his eyes alone had only seen a cloudy patch.

Super close to Earth. The Beehive Cluster is one of the nearest open star clusters to our solar system, making it a favorite target for stargazers. Its closeness makes it easier to study than distant clusters far across the galaxy.

Ancient knowledge. People have known about the Beehive Cluster for thousands of years, long before telescopes were invented. It has been described in astronomical records since ancient times, showing how bright and noticeable it is from Earth.