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Messier 44, also famously known as the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe, swarms with activity as its name would suggest. This open cluster of around 1,000 stars, loosely connected by gravity, is one of the closest to Earth at approximately 600 light-years away. The stars of open clusters form from the same cloud of collapsing gas and the Beehive Cluster is thought to be quite young, around 600-700 million years old. In contrast, its Milky Way home is known to be about 13 billion years old.
Messier 44, also famously known as the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe, swarms with activity as its name would suggest. This open cluster of around 1,000 stars, loosely connected by gravity, is one of the closest to Earth at approximately 600 light-years away. The stars of open clusters form from the same cloud of collapsing gas and the Beehive Cluster is thought to be quite young, around 600-700 million years old. In contrast, its Milky Way home is known to be about 13 billion years old.