Butterfly Cluster (M6)
An open cluster in Scorpius whose arrangement of stars resembles a butterfly. Visible to the naked eye under good conditions.
Open cluster in Scorpius. Magnitude 4.2.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 51° above the southern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 54° above the southern horizon. It is highest at midnight on the night of 14 Jun, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
- Your eyes: Visible to the eye even from Georgetown, as a hazy knot of stars.
- 10x50 binoculars: Resolves into dozens of stars.
- A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): Dozens to hundreds of stars at low power.
- A camera: Spans about 40% of an APS-C frame at 2,000 mm (field 0.7° × 0.4°); needs a tracking mount.
How big, how bright, how far
- Size on the sky: 15′, 48% of the Moon's width (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
- Brightness: magnitude 4.2. Brighter than the faintest stars Georgetown shows (4.3), and Lethem's (6.0).
- Distance: 1,600 light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 1,600 years ago, around the year 430.
What it is made of
- Type
- Open Cluster
- Distance
- Approx. 1,600 Lightyears
- True size
- Approx. 12 Lightyears diameter
- Young Hot Stars: B-type, recently formed
More deep-sky objects: Ptolemy Cluster (M7) · NGC 6231 (Northern Jewel Box) · Globular Cluster M22 · M25 (Open Cluster IC 4725) · Globular Cluster M4 · Eagle Nebula (M16)