Beehive Cluster
Where is the Beehive Cluster?
Look east, about 39° up at 05:17 in Cancer. It rises at 00:50 and climbs through the night.
- Rises
- 00:50
- Highest
- 08:42
- Sets
- 16:37
- Best after dark
- 05:17 · 39°
Can I see the Beehive Cluster tonight?
From London tonight, the Beehive Cluster is above the horizon after dark. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the east at 39°.
At magnitude 3.7, with its light spread over an area of sky, it can be seen by eye from a dark site; light pollution hides it quickly.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does the Beehive Cluster look like?
Eyes
Under dark skies, a soft, fuzzy patch between Gemini and Leo. Light pollution hides it easily.
Binoculars
The best view: a swarm of dozens of stars, like bees around a hive.
Telescope
Use the lowest magnification; the cluster is wider than the full Moon.
About the Beehive Cluster
The Beehive Cluster, also called Praesepe (the manger), is one of the nearest open clusters, about 600 light-years away. To the naked eye it appears as a misty patch in the dim constellation Cancer.
When Galileo turned his telescope to it in 1609–1610, he saw that the patch was really dozens of stars, one of the first discoveries of the telescopic age.
The cluster contains around a thousand stars and is several hundred million years old. Planets have been found orbiting some of its stars.
Ancient Greek and Roman writers used it as a weather sign: if it was hidden on a seemingly clear night, rain was coming.
The Beehive is several hundred million years old, close in age to the Hyades, and the two clusters may have formed in similar conditions. Because Cancer lies on the ecliptic, the Moon and planets sometimes pass through or near the cluster, a lovely binocular sight. In 2012 astronomers found the first planets orbiting Sun-like stars in an open cluster here.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Can I see the Beehive from the city?
When is the Beehive best placed?
Sources: SkyMate; OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences