Messier 36
Open cluster in the constellation Auriga
title: "Messier 36" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["open-clusters", "auriga", "messier-objects", "ngc-objects", "perseus-arm", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1654"] description: "Open cluster in the constellation Auriga" topic_path: "general/open-clusters" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_36" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Open cluster in the constellation Auriga ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox open cluster"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Messier 36 |
| image | [[Image:M36-pinwheel-cluster.png |
| caption | M36 showing bright, young B-type stars |
| epoch | J2000.0 |
| constellation | Auriga |
| ra | |
| dec | |
| dist_ly | 1.330 +/- |
| appmag_v | 6.3 |
| size_v | 12' |
| mass_msol | |
| radius_ly | 7 ly |
| age | 25.1 Myr |
| names | C 0532+341, M 36, NGC 1960, OCl 445 |
| :: |
| name = Messier 36 | image = [[Image:M36-pinwheel-cluster.png|300px]] | caption = M36 showing bright, young B-type stars | epoch = J2000.0 | constellation = Auriga | ra = | dec = | dist_ly = 1.330 +/- | appmag_v = 6.3 | size_v = 12' | mass_msol = | radius_ly = 7 ly | v_hb = | age = 25.1 Myr | notes = | names = C 0532+341, M 36, NGC 1960, OCl 445
Messier 36 or M36, also known as NGC 1960 or the Pinwheel Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the somewhat northern Auriga constellation. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654, who described it as a nebulous patch. The cluster was independently re-discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749, then Charles Messier observed it in 1764 and added it to his catalogue. It is about 1,330 pc (4,340 light years) away from Earth. The cluster is very similar to the Pleiades cluster (M45), and if as far away it would be of similar apparent magnitude.
This cluster has an angular diameter of and a core radius of . It has a mass of roughly and a linear tidal radius of 10.6 +/-. Based upon photometry, the age of the cluster has been estimated by Wu et al. (2009) as 25.1 Myr and Myr by Bell et al. (2013). The luminosity of the stars that have not yet depleted their lithium implies an age of Myr, in good agreement with these older estimates.
M36 includes ten stars with a visual magnitude brighter than 10, and 178 down to magnitude 14. 38 members display an infrared excess, with one being particularly high. There is one candidate B-type variable star, of 9th magnitude.
A 2020 study of the variable stars in the cluster estimated a new closer distance of 3,800 light years from Earth. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/IRAS_05327+3404.jpg" caption="The YSO Holoea in M36 and the outflow at different wavelengths."] ::
A young stellar object with an outflow, associated with the infrared source IRAS 05327+3404 was discovered in optical observations of M36. The outflow is nicknamed "Holoea", Hawaiian for "flowing gas". Despite appearing close to M36 it is probably not a part of M36 .It may be a member of the more distant S235 region. The young star driving the outflow was classified as transitional between class I and class II and appears to be surrounded by large amounts of circumstellar material.
Map
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/M36map.png" caption="Map"] ::
References
| title=Atlas of the Messier Objects: Highlights of the Deep Sky | first1=Ronald | last1=Stoyan | first2=Stefan | last2=Binnewies | first3=Susanne | last3=Friedrich | display-authors=1 | translator-last=Schroeder | translator-first=Klaus-Peter | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2008 | isbn=978-1139473118 | pages=530–533 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2VuBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT530 }}
| last1=Wu | first1 =Zhen-Yu | last2=Zhou | first2 =Xu | last3=Ma | first3 =Jun | last4=Du | first4 =Cui-Hua | title=The orbits of open clusters in the Galaxy | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=399 | issue=4 | pages=2146–2164 | date=November 2009 | arxiv=0909.3737 | bibcode=2009MNRAS.399.2146W | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15416.x | doi-access=free | s2cid=6066790 | postscript=. }}
| title=A lithium depletion boundary age of 22 Myr for NGC 1960 | last1=Jeffries | first1=R. D. | last2=Naylor | first2=Tim | last3=Mayne | first3=N. J. | last4=Bell | first4=Cameron P. M. | last5=Littlefair | first5=S. P. | display-authors=1 | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=434 | issue=3 | pages=2438–2450 | date=September 2013 | doi=10.1093/mnras/stt1180 | doi-access=free | arxiv=1306.6339 | bibcode=2013MNRAS.434.2438J }}
| title=Dust discs around intermediate-mass and Sun-like stars in the 16 Myr old NGC 1960 open cluster | last1=Smith | first1=R. | last2=Jeffries | first2=R. D. | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=420 | issue=4 | pages=2884–2898 | date=March 2012 | bibcode=2012MNRAS.420.2884S | arxiv=1110.4219 | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.20032.x | doi-access=free | s2cid=119188688 | postscript=. }}
| title=Photometric and kinematic studies of open star clusters. II. NGC 1960 (M 36) and NGC 2194 | last1=Sanner | first1=J. | last2=Altmann | first2=M. | last3=Brunzendorf | first3=J. | last4=Geffert | first4=M. | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | display-authors=1 | volume=357 | pages=471–483 | date=May 2000 | bibcode=2000A&A...357..471S | postscript=. | arxiv=astro-ph/0003327 }}
| title=Search for B-Type Variable Stars in Open Clusters | last1=Delgado | first1=A. J. | last2=Alfaro | first2=E. J. | last3=Garrido | first3=R. | last4=Garcia-Pelayo | first4=J. M. | journal=Information Bulletin on Variable Stars | volume=2603 | page=1 | date=October 1984 | display-authors=1 | bibcode=1984IBVS.2603....1D | postscript=. }}
| display-authors=1 | last1=Piskunov | first1=A. E. | last2=Schilbach | first2=E. | last3=Kharchenko | first3=N. V. | last4=Röser | first4=S. | last5=Scholz | first5=R.-D. | title=Tidal radii and masses of open clusters | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | postscript=. | volume=477 | issue=1 | pages=165–172 | date=January 2008 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20078525 | bibcode=2008A&A...477..165P | doi-access=free }}
| last1=Fodera-Serio | first1=G. | last2=Indorato | first2=L. | last3=Nastasi | first3=P. | display-authors=1 | title=Hodierna's Observations of Nebulae and his Cosmology | journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy | volume=16 | issue=1 | page=1 | date=February 1985 | bibcode=1985JHA....16....1F | postscript=. | doi=10.1177/002182868501600101 | doi-access=free }}
| first1=Hartmut | last1=Frommert | first2=Christine | last2=Kronberg | date=August 25, 2007 | title=Messier 36 | postscript=. | work=The Messier Catalog | access-date=2018-11-24 | publisher=Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) | url=http://www.messier.seds.org/m/m036.html }}
References
- "Messier 36".
- (21 January 2023). "Astronomers perform a comprehensive study of young open cluster NGC 1960". Phys.org.
- (2013-09-01). "Millimetric and Submillimetric Observations of IRAS 05327+3404 "Holoea" in M36". The Astronomical Journal.
- "M 36".
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