Conjunction between the Moon and M44
2017 Nov 10
Dominic Ford – originally published on In-The-Sky.org
The Moon and M44 will make a close approach, passing within 2°38' of each other.
From London (click to change), the pair will be visible in the morning sky. They will become accessible at around 22:27, when they rise 7° above your north-eastern horizon. They will then reach its highest point in the sky at 05:22, 58° above your southern horizon. They will be lost to dawn twilight at around 06:44, 54° above your south-western horizon.
At the moment of closest approach, the Moon will be at mag -12.2, and M44 at mag 3.1, both in the constellation Cancer.
The pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.
The precise positions of the Moon and M44 at the moment of closest approach will be as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| The Moon | 08h38m10s | +17°23' | Cancer | -12.2 | 32'07"8 |
| M44 | 08h40m00s | +19°58' | Cancer | 3.1 | 1'35"0 |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0. The pair will be at an angular separation of 100° from the Sun, which is in Libra at this time of year.
The details of this observing event were provided courtesy of In-The-Sky.org
.