This 2-minute exposure was taken on January 19, 2001 at my home in Colfax, CA. This collection of stars was originally noted by Galileo to resemble a swarm of bees, hence its popular name, the Beehive Cluster. Before the invention of the telescope, however, it was only visible as a fuzzy patch with two stars adjacent to it. The ancients called it "Praesepe", meaning "manger", as they thought it resembled a pile of hay, while the two visible stars appeared to be donkeys eating from it. Asellus Australis (the southern donkey) is the bright star on the left edge of the photo. Asellus Borealis (the northern donkey) is the bright star at the top center.



This is one of those celestial objects that convinces me that the ancient people who looked up at night had very vivid imaginations.

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