M46
open star cluster · in Puppis
5,070 light-years from Earth
A rich cluster of thousands of stars. The small ring of a planetary nebula seen at its edge, NGC 2438, is probably not part of it: it moves differently and seems to lie well in front.
- 5,070 light-years (Gaia) · its stars spread over about 70 light-years
- about 300 to 500 million years old · 600 of its stars as Gaia measured them
- kind
- nebula · star cluster
- catalogue
- M46 · NGC 2437 · NGC 2438
- size
- 68 light-years across