Observation by Graham Roberts: M35 & NGC2158 Open Clusters

Uploaded by

Graham Roberts

Observer

Graham Roberts

Observed

2026 Mar 17 - 21:00

Uploaded

2026 Apr 15 - 10:42

Objects

M35
NGC2158

Planetarium overlay

Enable overlay
Show stars
Label stars
Show deep sky objects
Label deep sky objects
Show constellation boundaries
Show constellation sticks
Show constellation labels
Show RA/Dec grid

Constellation

Gemini

Field centre

RA: 06^h08^m
Dec: +24°15'
Position angle: +152°42'

Field size

2°48' × 1°54'

Location

Wells, Somerset

Target name

M35 & NGC2158

Title

M35 & NGC2158 Open Clusters

About this image

Messier 35 AKA the Shoe Buckle Cluster, is a bright open star cluster in the constellation of Gemini. M35 lies about 2,800 light-yearsfrom Earth and is approaching us at 5 km/sec. It is estimated to be between 100 and 150 million years old,making it a relatively young open cluster in astronomical terms and spans 24 light-years across.

A notable feature of imaging M35 is its apparent proximity to NGC 2158, which however, is a much older and more distant, metal-poor open star cluster located some 11,000 to 16,000 light-years from Earth. It contains over 3,000 stars of some 2 billion years age, which are dominated by yellow stars.

For more background information and imaging details please refer to my webbsite here: https://watchthisspaceman.com/2026/04/15/startruck/

Files associated with this observation

M35_NGC2158 (Large).png (3.7 MB)

Like this image

Callum Wingrove, Dominic Ford, Callum Potter, Geof Lewis, Tim Haymes

Copyright of all images and other observations submitted to the BAA remains with the owner of the work. Reproduction of work by third parties is expressly forbidden without the consent of the copyright holder. By submitting images to this online gallery, you grant the BAA permission to reproduce them in any of our publications.

Registered charity no. 210769
Registered company no. 117572

For more information including contact details, click here.

Our Terms of Use are here.

Our Privacy Policy is here.