Top 10 Deep-Sky Objects of January 2024

In this article, we’ll tell you about 9 star clusters and 1 galaxy that will be favorably positioned for observation in January. We organized the objects in our list by their apparent magnitude, from faintest to brightest. Southern Hemisphere observers, get prepared — most of the objects we’re discussing here are visible from your latitudes! Use the Sky Tonight astronomy app to locate any of them in the sky.

Contents

• 10. NGC 2403
• 9. Heart-shaped Cluster
• 8. Golden Earring Cluster
• 7. IC 2395
• 6. Little Beehive Cluster
• 5. M47
• 4. Southern Beehive Cluster
• 3. The Beehive Cluster
• 2. NGC 2451
• 1. Omicron Velorum Cluster
• How to find deep-sky objects?
• Bottom line

10. NGC 2403

• Alternative names: Caldwell 7
• Apparent size: 21.9′ × 12.3′
• Apparent magnitude: 8.9
• Constellation: Camelopardalis
• Best observed from: Northern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The NGC 2403 galaxy is unobservable to the naked eye, but you can see it through large binoculars or a small telescope. It will look like an elongated fuzzy patch in the sky, located not far from the north celestial pole.
• Description: NGC 2403 is an intermediate spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel in 1788. It is a member of the M81 Group of galaxies. NGC 2403 is about 50,000 light-years in diameter.

9. Heart-shaped Cluster

• Alternative names: M50, NGC 2323, Cr 124
• Apparent size: 16′
• Apparent magnitude: 5.9
• Constellation: Monoceros
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: You can try to spot M50 with 10x50 binoculars, but it will most likely appear rather fuzzy. It’s better to use large binoculars or a small telescope to observe this star cluster. M50 is easy to find because of its proximity to Sirius in Canis Major (the brightest star in the night sky).
• Description: M50 is an open star cluster first observed by Giovanni Cassini around 1710 and then independently discovered by Charles Messier in 1772. It is around 140 million years old and occupies an area about half the size of the Full Moon in the sky.

8. Golden Earring Cluster

• Alternative names: NGC 2547, Cr 177
• Apparent size: 20′
• Apparent magnitude: 4.7
• Constellation: Vela
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The NGC 2547 cluster is too faint to be seen with the naked eye, so use a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to view it.
• Description: NGC 2547 is an open cluster discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1751. Astronomers estimate that this star cluster is about 20-30 million years old.

7. IC 2395

• Alternative names: Cr 192
• Apparent size: 8'
• Apparent magnitude: 4.6
• Constellation: Vela
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: IC 2395 is too faint to be seen with the naked eye if the sky is not perfectly dark. So use binoculars or a small telescope for its observation.
• Description: IC 2395 is an open star cluster possibly discovered by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. It contains about 45 stars and is between 6 and 18 million years old.

6. Little Beehive Cluster

• Alternative names: M41, NGC 2287
• Apparent size: 38′
• Apparent magnitude: 4.5
• Constellation: Canis Major
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The Little Beehive Cluster is visible through 10x50 binoculars or a small telescope. You can find it near Sirius in Canis Major — the brightest star in the sky.
• Description: Messier 41 is an open star cluster discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Batista Hodierna sometime before 1654. The cluster is approximately 25 light-years in diameter; it occupies an area about the size of the Full Moon in the sky and contains about 100 stars. It is estimated to be 190 million years old and might disintegrate in 300 million years.

5. M47

• Alternative names: NGC 2422, Cr 152
• Apparent size: 30′
• Apparent magnitude: 4.4
• Constellation: Puppis
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: Messier 47 is visible through 10x50 binoculars or a small telescope; under a perfectly dark sky, you can even try to see it with the naked eye. Look for it near Sirius in Canis Major.
• Description: The M47 open cluster was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna sometime before 1654. The cluster is about 14 light-years in diameter, and its apparent size is roughly the same as that of the Full Moon. M47 is approximately 78 million years old and contains about 500 stars.

4. Southern Beehive Cluster

• Alternative names: NGC 2516, Caldwell 96, Cr 172
• Apparent size: 30.0′
• Apparent magnitude: 3.8
• Constellation: Carina
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The NGC 2516 star cluster is relatively bright, so you can spot it with the naked eye as a hazy patch in the sky. Still, it’s better to use binoculars or a small telescope to observe it. You can find NGC 2516 at a distance of 3° from the magnitude 1.9 star Avior (Epsilon Carinae), which is one of the stars in the False Cross asterism.
• Description: NGC 2516 is an open star cluster discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1751-1752. It’s sometimes called the Southern Beehive because of its resemblance to the M44 cluster. NGC 2516 has an apparent diameter similar to that of the Full Moon. Its age is estimated to be between 110 and 135 million years.

3. The Beehive Cluster

• Alternative names: M44, NGC 2632
• Apparent size: 95′
• Apparent magnitude: 3.1
• Constellation: Cancer
• Best observed from: Northern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The Beehive Cluster is bright enough to be spotted with the naked eye under dark skies — it will look like a blurry patch of light. Still, 10x50 binoculars or a small telescope are preferable. This object is quite easy to find: it’s positioned halfway between the bright star Regulus in Leo and the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini.
• Description: M44 is an open cluster that has been known since ancient times. It was first observed telescopically by Galileo Galilei in 1609. The cluster is about 600 million years old; it contains roughly 1,000 stars and covers an area of about three Full Moons in the sky. You can learn more about the Beehive Cluster from our dedicated article.

2. NGC 2451

• Alternative names: Stinging Scorpion Cluster, Cr 161
• Apparent size: 45'
• Apparent magnitude: 2.8
• Constellation: Puppis
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The NGC 2451 star cluster is bright enough to be visible with the naked eye, but it’s better to use binoculars for its observation. You’ll find it at a distance of 4° from the magnitude 2.2 star Naos (also known as Zeta Puppis).
• Description: NGC 2451 is an open cluster probably discovered by Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654. It is one of the brightest open clusters, which covers an area about 1.5 times the size of the Full Moon in the sky. In 1996, astronomers confirmed that NGC 2451 was actually two open clusters that lie along the same line of sight.

1. Omicron Velorum Cluster

• Alternative names: IC 2391, Caldwell 85
• Apparent size: 50′
• Apparent magnitude: 2.5
• Constellation: Vela
• Best observed from: Southern Hemisphere
• How to observe: The Omicron Velorum Cluster is visible to the naked eye, but it’s best to view it through binoculars. You can use the False Cross asterism as a guide — the cluster will be positioned to the west of the asterism.
• Description: IC 2391 is an open cluster that may have been first described by Persian astronomer Al Sufi around 964. It contains about 30 stars and is about 50 million years old. The cluster occupies an area almost twice the size of the Full Moon in the sky.

How to find deep-sky objects?

You can easily find any deep-sky object using the Sky Tonight app. Here’s how:

• Launch the app and tap the magnifier icon at the lower part of the screen;
• In the Search field, enter the object’s name or designation — for instance, “Beehive Cluster”, “M44”, or “NGC 2632”;
• Find the object in the search results and tap the blue target icon next to its name (if the object wasn’t found, tap the button below the Search field to continue searching in the remote database);
• The app will show the object’s current location in the sky;
• Point your device at the sky and follow the white arrow to find the object.

To make finding deep-sky objects even easier, you can customize their display on the sky map. Tap the Menu icon (☰) at the bottom of the main screen, go to Settings, and open the Sky section. Here, you can adjust the DSO Visibility setting to suit your preferences. With the Basic mode selected, deep-sky objects won’t be highlighted on the sky map. In the Advanced mode, the brightest deep-sky objects will be circled. In the Pro mode, all deep-sky objects will be highlighted and marked with different icons depending on their type.

Bottom line

For this article, we’ve picked out 9 bright star clusters and 1 galaxy that will be positioned favorably for observation in January. Most of these objects are visible through binoculars and some — even to the naked eye. Try to see as many of them as you can! If you like deep-sky objects, you can also challenge yourself by taking our fun quiz called “Guess the Nebula”.

Astronomers are weird people and they often name things according to their strange ideas. Let’s see how weird you are – try to guess a nebula’s name from its picture!

Take the quiz!