M46 (below center left) and M47 (upper center right) are two bright clusters in the constellation of Puppis. They are relative separated by a bit more than one degree. Both clusters where independently discovered by Charles Messier after its first edition of his 45 object list. M46 is a very rich cluster and also contains planetary nebula NGC 2438 which can be seen in the image as a small green disk. The nebula is not part of M46; it position is seen only in perspective. M47 is also brighter than his companion; however the main bright stars are not part of the cluster. Both objects can be well seen through binoculars o low power telescopes. At the right of M47 we have NGC 2423 with a magnitude of 6.7 and an apparent diameter of 12 arc minutes. Below left from M 47 is visible NGC 2425 with only 4 arc minutes.
The image was taken with a William Optics Zenith Star 66 working at f4,8 and a QSI 583 WS from San Luis, Argentina. Eighty minutes of total exposure time through Baader LRGB filters set.