by Bob Franke
Taken from 2/14/2010 to 3/4/2010 in Chino Valley, AZ
RCOS 12.5" Ritchey-Chrétien w/ an SBIG STL-11000 camera using Astrodon filters
Exposure Details:
Lum 150 min. (10 x 15 min)
RGB 180 min. ( 4 x 15 min each)
North is to the top
M38 was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and independently found by Le Gentil in 1749.
The cluster spans roughly 25 light-years and lies about 4000 light-years away toward the constellation of Auriga. M38 is about 220 million years old, still young enough to have many young bright blue stars. Clusters, like this, are loosely bound by gravity. As they age, the clusters spread out and the member stars slowly escape.