🔭 M48

Open cluster in Hydra

M48 is a open cluster in the constellation Hydra, with an apparent magnitude of about 5.5, roughly 1.5 thousand light-years away.

Data

Catalogue designation	M48
Object type	Open cluster
Constellation	Hydra
NGC / IC	NGC 2548
Apparent magnitude	5.5
Distance (approx.)	1.5 thousand light-years

What a open cluster is

A loose, young family of a few dozen to a few thousand stars born together from the same gas cloud and drifting apart over time. The Pleiades are the most famous example.

Other Messier objects in Hydra: M68, M83.

Data: Messier catalogue & IAU constellations, via English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) · stored statically.