- M 48 (NGC 2548)
M 48 is a large, coarse open cluster lying along the edge of the Winter Milky Way in the constellation Hydra. It was discovered by Charles Messier in February 1771. Unfortunately, in logging this discovery, he recorded an incorrect position, placing the cluster 5 degrees north of its actual position. It wasn't until 1959 that T. F. Morris resolved this error and placed Messier's cluster in the proper position in the sky.
M 48 has a visual magnitude of 5.8 and can be readily seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. It contains around 80 prominent member stars, although there are likely to be many more. Three of the cluster stars are class G and K giants, lending their orange glow to the other blue-white members of the cluster. The cluster lies at a distance of around 2500 LY from the Earth and has a physical diameter of around 22 LY. The age of the cluster is estimated be be around 300 million years.
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