Open Clusters consist of a few dozen to thousands of stars that have formed from shared hydrogen gas clouds. Over the course of a few hundred million years, they gradually disperse, making them an exciting and visually appealing target for observation due to their variety and diversity.
The Melotte Catalogue, compiled in 1915 by the Belgian-British astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte, contains a total of 245 star clusters. It offers astrophotographers a rich selection of objects, which are often less well-known than the Messier objects but represent equally captivating subjects.
Melotte 8 – M103
Messier 103, a young open star cluster located in the constellation Cassiopeia, approximately 8,000 light-years away, encompasses a group of about 40 blue and white stars, reaching its annual culmination around astronomical midnight around October 19th ...
Melotte 13, 14 – C14
Caldwell 14, also known as the Double Cluster, is a stunning pair of open star clusters located in the constellation Perseus, appearing as two adjacent patches of light in the night sky and reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight around November 1st ...
Melotte 11 – C10
NGC 663 is an open cluster located in the constellation Auriga, approximately 19,386 light-years away from Earth. This stellar object reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight at the end of October ...
Melotte 17 – M34
M34 is an open cluster in Perseus, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight around November 5th ...
Pleiades – Melotte 22 – M45
The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus, approximately 410 light-years from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight at the end of November ...
Hyades – Melotte 25 – C41
The Hyades is the nearest open star cluster to our Solar System, located in the constellation Taurus, approximately 153 light-years away from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight at the end of November ...
Melotte 38 – M37
Messier 37 is a bright open star cluster located in the constellation Auriga, approximately 4,511 light-years away from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight around December 20th ...
Melotte 40 – NGC 2158
NGC 2158 is a distant and densely packed open star cluster located in the constellation Gemini, approximately 16,500 light-years away from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight end of december ...
Melotte 41 – M35
Messier 35 is a large open star cluster located in the constellation Gemini, approximately 2,800 light-years away from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight around end-December ...
Melotte 47 – C50
Caldwell 50, also known as NGC 2244, is an open star cluster located within the Rosette Nebula in the constellation Monoceros, approximately 5,219 light-years away from Earth, reaching its annual culmination at astronomical midnight at the end of December ...
Beehive Cluster – Melotte 88 – M44
The open star cluster Messier 44 in the constellation of Cancer reaches its annual culmination around January 28th ...
Melotte 201 – NGC 6633
NGC 6633 is an open star cluster located in the constellation Ophiuchus, approximately 880 light-years away from Earth ...
Melotte 231 – NGC 6939
NGC 6939 is an open star cluster located in the constellation Cepheus, about 3860 LJ away and reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight end of July ...
Melotte 232 – NGC 6940
NGC 6940 is an open cluster located in the constellation Vulpecula, approximately 2,510 light-years away from Earth. This cluster reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight end of July. Around July the 29th to be more exact ...
Melotte 236 – M39
Messier 39 is a large open star cluster located in the constellation Cygnus, approximately 800 light-years away from Earth. This celestial object reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight mid of August. Specifically around August 13th ...
Melotte 240 – C16
NGC 7243 is an open cluster located in the constellation Lacerta, approximately 2,800 light-years away from Earth. This stellar object reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight at the end of August. Around August 25th to be more exact ...
Messier 29
Messier 29 is an open star cluster located in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan), approximately 13,050 light-years away. It reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight in late July ...
