Messier 38
open cluster in the constellation Auriga
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Summary
Messier 38 is an open cluster[1]. It draws 326 Wikipedia views per month (open cluster category, ranking #16 of 108).[2]
Key Facts
- Discoverer or inventor: Giovan Battista Hodierna[3]
- Constellation: Auriga[4]
- Spectral class: II[5]
- Part of: Milky Way[6]
- Commons category: Messier 38[7]
- Catalog code: M 38[8], NGC 1912[9], OCl 433.0[10], Collinder 67[11], Melotte 36[12], C 0525+358[13], [KPS2012] MWSC 0557[14]
- Time of discovery or invention: January 1, 1654[15]
- Topic's main category: Category:Messier 38[16]
- Commons gallery: Messier 38[17]
- Apparent magnitude: 6.69[18], 6.4[19]
- Radius: 12.5 light-year[20]
- Radial velocity: -45 kilometre per second[21], 1.0 kilometre per second[22]
- Metallicity: -0.10[23]
- Distance from Earth: 4200 light-year[24], 1066 parsec[25]
- Right ascension: 82.1792 degree[26]
- Declination: 35.8550 degree[27]
- Epoch: J2000.0[28]
- Declination component of proper motion: -4.14 milliarcsecond per year[29], -5.51 milliarcsecond per year[30]
- Right ascension component of proper motion: -0.52 milliarcsecond per year[31], 0.36 milliarcsecond per year[32]
Why It Matters
Messier 38 has Wikipedia articles in 26 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[33] It is known by 15 alternative names across languages and contexts.[34]