M34

open star cluster · in Perseus

1,597 light-years from Earth

A bright, loose cluster in Perseus, just visible to the naked eye from a dark site. Its stars are about 220 million years old, a stage between the young Pleiades and the older Hyades; how fast its stars spin gives a matching age.

• 1,600 light-years (Gaia) · its stars spread over about 40 light-years
• about 220 million years old · 589 of its stars as Gaia measured them

kind

nebula · star cluster

catalogue

M34 · NGC 1039

size

41 light-years across