M35 and NGC2158

M35 and NGC2158: Messier 35 (M35) is a large open star cluster located in the northern constellation Gemini. The cluster consists of several hundred stars, of which 120 are brighter than magnitude 13. The cluster has an apparent magnitude of 5.3 and lies at an approximate distance of 2,800 light years from Earth. The estimated age of M35 is about 110 million years. The hottest blue/white main sequence stars in the cluster have the spectral classification B3. M35 also contains more evolved stars, including several orange and yellow giants. Another open cluster, NGC2158, lies about 15 arc minutes to the southeast of M35. It is considerably older, more compact and contains more stars. It is also more than five times more distant than M35 and the two clusters are not physically related.

Photographer: Bart Delsaert