M35

M35 can be found in the constellation Gemini and contains over one hundred member stars scattered across an area as large as the full Moon.
UPDATED JUN 26, 2024
messier 35 open cluster in gemini
messier 35 open cluster in gemini

Star clusters are among the most beautiful objects in the night sky. Several are easily visible with the naked eye, notably the Pleiades and the Hyades in Taurus and the Beehive Cluster in Cancer; many are within the range of binoculars or small telescopes.

Star clusters come in two varieties: globular clusters and open clusters (sometimes also called galactic clusters). Globular star clusters were born during the early days of the Milky Way and are as old as our galaxy itself. They are huge compact spherical balls of ten thousand to a million stars and are found in the galactic halo, well above and below the thin disk of the Galaxy. Open clusters, in contrast, lie in and near the arms of our Milky Way Galaxy and may contain anything from a few dozen to a few hundred stars.

A beautiful open star cluster, easily visible in binoculars and on the fringe of naked- eye visibility, lies almost directly in the galactic anticenter direction (i.e. directly outward from us in the opposite direction from the center of the Galaxy), about one hundred light years above the galactic central plane.

M35 can be found in the constellation Gemini, near the feet of the twins, close to the border with Taurus. It contains over one hundred member stars scattered across an area as large as the full Moon. Binoculars show the cluster as a mottled patch enveloped in mist, but small telescopes clearly show individual stars, of 8th magnitude and fainter.

The brightest stars of the cluster average about 400 times the luminosity of our Sun and their spectral types range from B3 to G0; M35 also contains several yellow and orange giant stars of late G and early K type. Careful observers will note that the stars are arranged in disconnected chains, somewhat reminiscent of the lights on a Christmas tree.

MORE STORIES

Astronomers have found a newly identified system, unofficially named 'JWST's Quintet,' where at least five galaxies and 17 star-forming clumps are merging.
8 hours ago
The satellite found two rocky exoplanets comparable to Earth in size, orbiting a nearby K-type star, as candidates for its mission.
2 days ago
The magnetic fields of the early universe only had enough strength to be compared to the magnetism of neurons in the human brain.
3 days ago
These stellar remnants, capable of traveling over 2,000 kilometers per second, are now believed to be the high-speed survivors of a rare type of supernova explosion.
4 days ago
'This advances our understanding of accretion physics, a field central to unraveling black hole behavior and galaxy evolution,' explained a scientist.
Aug 31, 2025
This new James Webb image focuses on the centre of the Butterfly Nebula and its dusty torus, giving us a view of its complex structure.
Aug 29, 2025
This cosmic web filament is reported to have a thickness of 2.6 to 3.3 million light years.
Aug 27, 2025
Hayabusa2’s Ryugu samples provide insights into Earth’s early water, organic materials, and the beginnings of life.
Aug 26, 2025
According to a new model, the death of stars and their collapse into black holes might be a key mechanism for generating dark energy.
Aug 24, 2025
A rare gravitational lensing event, dubbed an 'accidental double zoom' by astronomers, allowed for a breakthrough observation of the distant quasar RXJ1131-1231.
Aug 22, 2025