Messier 38

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title: "Messier 38" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["open-clusters", "messier-objects", "ngc-objects", "auriga", "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_38" 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 cluster"]

Field	Value
name	Messier 38
image	[[File:IC 410 - IC 417 - NGC 1912 in Auriga.jpg
caption	M38 (top) and surroundings
epoch	J2000.0
constellation	Auriga
ra
dec
dist_ly	1.066 kpc
appmag_v	7.4
size_v	21
radius_ly	4pc. (13 ly.)
age	250 Myr
names	NGC 1912
::

| name = Messier 38 | image = [[File:IC 410 - IC 417 - NGC 1912 in Auriga.jpg|280px]] | caption = M38 (top) and surroundings | epoch = J2000.0 | constellation = Auriga | ra = | dec = | dist_ly = 1.066 kpc | appmag_v = 7.4 | size_v = 21 | mass_msol = | radius_ly = 4pc. (13 ly.) | age = 250 Myr | notes = | names = NGC 1912

Messier 38 or M38, also known as NGC 1912 or Starfish Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Auriga. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and independently found by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749. The open clusters M36 and M37, also discovered by Hodierna, are often grouped together with M38. Distance is about 1.066 kpc away from Earth. The open cluster NGC 1907 lies nearby on the sky, but the two are most likely just experiencing a fly-by, having originated in different parts of the galaxy.

Description

The cluster's brightest stars form a pattern resembling the Greek letter Pi or, according to Webb, an "oblique cross". Walter Scott Houston described its appearance as follows: ::quote Photographs usually show a departure from circularity, a feature quite evident to visual observers. Older reports almost always mention a cross shape, which seems more pronounced with small instruments. A view with a 24-inch reflector on a fine Arizona night showed the cluster as irregular, and the host of stars made fruitless any effort to find a geometrical figure. ::

At its distance of 1066 pc., its angular diameter of about 20 arc minutes corresponds to about 4.0 parsecs (13 light years), similar to that of its more distant neighbor M37. It is of intermediate age at about 290 million years. From the population of about 100 stars, this open cluster features a prominent yellow giant with the apparent magnitude +7.9 and spectral type G0 as its brightest member. This corresponds to an absolute magnitude of -1.5, or a luminosity of 900 Suns. For comparison, the Sun would appear as a faint magnitude +15.3 star from the distance of M38.

Components

::data[format=table] | NAME || Right ascension || Declination || Spectral Type | |---| | HD 35519 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 2 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 3 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 4 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 5 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 6 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 7 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 11 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 19 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 104 | | NGC 1912 SS G2 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 128 | | NGC 1912 SS G4 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 153 | | NGC 1912 SS G3 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 160 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 161 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 171 | | NGC 1912 HOAG 172 | ::

Gallery

File:Star map - M38 cluster.png|Chart of Auriga showing the location of M38 File:M38, NGC 1912 (noao-m38).jpg|Closeup of Messier 38 File:M38-V2025.png|M38 in V band (north is down, east to the left)

References

References

1. Carter, J. (2015). March: The Plane Truth. In ''A Stargazing Program for Beginners'' (pp. 57-85). Springer, Cham.
2. "Messier 38".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::