Messier 36, 37, 38 (M 36, 37, 38)

Introduction | Map | Pseudo Photo (Starry Night 7) | My Best Own Photos | My Own Observations | References || Appendix: My Own Photos

On this page I collect my observations of the open star clusters M 36, M 37, and M 38 in the constellation Auriga.

Introduction

Auriga (with main star Capella) belongs also to the constellations that were more or less unknown to me thus far. At the core the constellation forms a hexagon if you take it exactly, but it is likely that you will perceive only a pentagon... This is a very striking pattern, but it is located very high up sometimes (for example, in February), so you have to look steeply upwards to see it. Perhaps this is a reason for my ignorance with respect to it...

In Auriga there are three more striking Messier objects, the open star clusters M 36, M 37, and M 38. They are located almost on a line, which projects from the outside into the hexagon. The exact sequence is: M 37 (outside) - M 36 Inside) - M 38 (further inside) (from East to West).

M 36		M 37		M 38
Size: 12' (Stoyan) Distance: 3,300 light years (Stoyan) Rating: *** (Stoyan)		Size: 16' (Stoyan) Distance: 4,500 light years (Stoyan) Rating: *** (Stoyan)		Size: 25' (Stoyan) - nearly moon size Distance: 3,500 light years (Stoyan) Rating: *** (Stoyan)

Nearby, there the nebulae IC 405 and IC 410 (see map below).

Map

M 37, M 36, and M 38 in constellation Auriga (large overview map) (Image Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy, www.simulationcurriculum.com)

Pseudo Photo (Starry Night 7)

Pseudo photo of M 37, M 36, and M 38 created with Starry Night 7 (large version, larger version) (Image Courtesy of Starry Night Education, www.simulationcurriculum.com)

My Best Own Photos

eVscope

M 36


M 36 - Nov 17, 2020		M 36 - Nov 17, 2020

M 36 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed		M 36 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed

M 37


M 37 - Nov 17, 2020		M 37 - Nov 17, 2020

M 37 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed		M 37 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed

M 38


M 38 - Nov 17, 2020		M 38 - Nov 17, 2020

M 38 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed		M 38 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed

M 36, M 37, M 38 (Comparison)


M 36 - Nov 17, 2020, processed		M 37 - Nov 17, 2020, processed		M 38 - Nov 17, 2020, processed

Vespera

M 36, M 37, M 38

M 36, Feb 13, 2023 - original

M 37, Feb 13, 2023 - original

M 38, Feb 13, 2023 - original

M 36 and M 38 (plus IC 417, NGC 1907, NGC 1931)


M 36/38, Feb 7, 2023 - original, mosaic		Ditto, evaluation with astrometry.net

My Own Observations

Observations February 2017

February 13, 2017 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Heritage 100P, LT binoculars): Looked for all three star clusters, and found two of them without a doubt, namely the inner clusters M 36 (which is regarded as the most beautiful and therefore probably got the lowest number "36") and M 38. I was able to find M 36 more easily and reproducible, whereas I had some problems with finding M 38. But despite all my efforts, I was not able to find M 37.*
February 14, 2017 (ditto: GSO GSD 680, LT binoculars): The attempts with my GSD 680 showed another pattern: I did not find M 38, but found M 37 and M 36. M 37 appeared to me more beautiful this time, and M 36 not quite as beautiful.
February 15, 2017: (ditto: Heritage 100P on GoTo mount, LT binoculars): I found all three open star clusters thanks to the GoTo mount. This time my verdict was: M 36 appeared to me most beautiful, M 38 came in second, and M 37 was a little fainter than the other two clusters...
February 26, 2017: (ditto: Heritage P130 on GoTo mount): I once again accessed all three open star clusters with the Heritage P130 on the GoTo mount and found them all. M 36 was the smallest, but brightest cluster with comparatively few stars, M 37 was relatively faint and in small magnification almost just a glimmer, whereas M 38 was the largest cluster, but also fainter than M 36 (new moon).
March 16, 2017: (ditto): M 36, M 37, and M 38 observed but no details noted

The visibility and rating of the three star clusters thus fluctuated quite a bit. But at least one can state that all the three star clusters were more or less well recognizable even when using a 4" telescope.

*) Whether this was due to a wrong alignment of the telescope, I do not know. In any case, it was very difficult for me to point the LED finder at these three targets because they were so high up in the sky. I therefore tried it on "good luck". Here a 90° angle finder would surely have served me well!

Observations End of March 2017

30.3.2017 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Heritage P130 on GoTo mount): All three star clusters observed

Observations February to April 2018

February 12, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Explorer 150PDS on GoTo mount with Atik Infinity, StarSense): M 36-38 for the first time photographed
February 13, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: TS binoculars): M 36-38 seen well with binoculars as a shimmering spots of different sizes
March 18-19, 2018 (Kellinghusen and Erkerode, TS binoculars): M 36-38 observed with binoculars, seen nicely (the center cluster was the smallest and somewhat lower, the right one the largest, the left one in between).
April 8, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Explorer 150PDS on GoTo-Mount with Atik Infinity, StarSense): M 36-38 photographed, but only M 36 found when looking for M 38...

Observations February 2019 ff

February 27, 2019 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: PS 72/432 on AZ Pronto Mount, TS binoculars): M 37 was very small with 24 mm, "normal" at higher magnification (7 mm).
April 28, 2019 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: PS 72/432 on GoTo mount): M 36, M 37, and M 38 were very faint with 10 mm.
May 1, 2019 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Explorer 150PDS on GoTo mount): M 36, M 37, and M 38 were faint and fine, but better than in the PS 72/432.

Observations January to May 2020

January 16, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: C8 on Star Discovery mount (SynScan WLAN, iPhone)): M 37, M 36, M 38 first observed with C8R and 24 as well as 32 mm eyepieces (1,25") - very nice (M 38 showed a "cross", M 36 distributed, M 37 fine, many stars). Ditto observed without reducer (2"); very nice again, somewhat larger field of view, that appeared somewhat nicer.
February 5, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 36 and M 38 photographed
February 15-16, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 36-M 38 photographed
March 13 and 18, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 36-M 38 photographed
May 10, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 37 photographed; very hard to observe and photograph (Unistellar task; moon too bright, M 37 too low)

Observations November 2020

November 17, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 36, 37, 38 photographed in the new rectangular format without overlay

Observations January to February 2021

January 10, 2021 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: C5 on AZ Pronto, Skymax-127 on AZ Pronto and Star Discovery): M 37 small, like a nebula at small magnifications
February 13, 2021 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: C5 on AZ-GTi): M 36, M 37, M 38 observed; M 37 was "compact"

Observations March to April 2022

March 20, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope 2): M 36, M 37, M 38 photographed (app version 1.5)
April 9, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope 2): M 38 photographed (app version 1.5)

Observations February 2023

February 7, 2023 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Vespera): M 36 and M 38 photographed together (mosaic)
February 13, 2023 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Vespera): M 36, M 37, and M 38 photographed alone

References

Messier Catalogue - Messier 36: messier.seds.org/m/m036.html
Messier Catalogue - Messier 37: messier.seds.org/m/m037.html
Messier Catalogue - Messier 38: messier.seds.org/m/m038.html

On this Site

Appendix: My Own Photos

Atik Infinity & Explorer 150PDS (February 12, 2018)


M 36 (Auriga), unprocessed	Ditto, post-processed and sharpened	Ditto, post-processed more aggressively and sharpened

M 37 (Auriga), unprocessed	Ditto, post-processed and sharpened	Ditto, post-processed more aggressively and sharpened

M 38 (Auriga), unprocessed	Ditto, post-processed and sharpened	Ditto, post-processed more aggressively and sharpened

Photos taken with Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PDS (February 12, 2018), 600 x 600 section with 1:1 pixels in the large version

Atik Infinity & Explorer 150PDS (April 8, 2018)


M 36 (Auriga), unprocessed	Ditto, post-processed	Ditto, post-processed and sharpened

M 36 (Auriga), unprocessed	Ditto, post-processed	Ditto, post-processed and sharpened

Photos taken with Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PDS (April 8, 2018), originals reduced to 600 x 450 pixels; found M 36 when looking for M 38...

eVscope

M 36


M 36 - Feb 15, 2020	M 36 - Feb 16, 2020	M 36 - Mar 13, 2020

M 36 - Mar 13, 2020	M 36 - Mar 18, 2020	M 36 - Mar 18, 2020, photo left processed

M 36 - Nov 17, 2020	M 36 - Nov 17, 2020

M 36 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed	M 36 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed

M 37


M 37 - Feb 15, 2020	M 37 - Feb 16, 2020	M 37 - Mar 13, 2020

M 37 - Mar 18, 2020	M 37 - Mar 18, 2020, processed	M 37 - May 10, 2020, processed (Live View)

M 37 - Nov 17, 2020	M 37 - Nov 17, 2020

M 37 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed	M 37 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed

M 38


M 38 - Feb 15, 2020, manual exposure	M 38 - Feb 15, 2020	M 38 - Feb 16, 2020

M 38 - Mar 13, 2020	M 38 - Mar 18, 2020	M 38 - Mar 18, 2020, processed

M 38 - Nov 17, 2020	M 38 - Nov 17, 2020

M 38 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed	M 38 - Nov 17, 2020, photo above processed