Messier 50

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Open cluster in the constellation Monoceros

title: "Messier 50" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["open-clusters", "orion–cygnus-arm", "monoceros", "messier-objects", "ngc-objects", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1711"] description: "Open cluster in the constellation Monoceros" topic_path: "general/open-clusters" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_50" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Open cluster in the constellation Monoceros ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox open cluster"]

FieldValue
nameMessier 50
image[[File:M50 Open Star Cluster.png
captionOpen Messier 50 in Monoceros
epochJ2000
constellationMonoceros
ra
dec
dist_ly881 pc
appmag_v5.9
size_v
mass_msol
radius_ly2.73 pc
age158 Myr
namesM50, NGC 2323, Cr 124, C 0700-082, OCl 559
::

| name = Messier 50 | image = [[File:M50 Open Star Cluster.png|300px]] | caption = Open Messier 50 in Monoceros | epoch = J2000 | constellation = Monoceros | ra = | dec = | dist_ly = 881 pc | appmag_v = 5.9 | size_v = | mass_msol =
| radius_ly = 2.73 pc | age = 158 Myr | notes = | names = M50, NGC 2323, Cr 124, C 0700-082, OCl 559

Messier 50 or M 50, also known as NGC 2323 or the Heart-shaped Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Monoceros. It was recorded by G. D. Cassini before 1711 and independently discovered by Charles Messier in 1772 while observing Biela's Comet. It is sometimes described as a 'heart-shaped' figure or a blunt arrowhead.

M50 is about 2,900 light-years away from Earth and is near to but narrowly not estimated to be gravitationally tied to the Canis Major (CMa) OB1 association. It has a core radius of 1.8 pc and spans 5.46 pc. The cluster has 508 confirmed and 109 probable members – their combined mass is more than , the mean stellar density would thus be 1.3 stars per cubic parsec. It is around 140 million years old, with two high-mass white dwarfs and two chemically peculiar stars.

Traditionally considered to be a single star cluster, in 2025 it was found to consist of two separate sub-clusters (NGC 2323-a and NGC 2323-b), making it a binary cluster.

Gallery

|File:M50_Mazur.jpg|Open Messier 50 in Monoceros |File:Sirius Mirzam M41.jpg|Sirius and M41 (lower right), M50 (upper left), and NGC 2360 (lower left) |File:Canis Major constellation map.svg|Messier 50 is found 8° north and 3° east of Sirius

References and footnotes

| title=Photometric study of the open cluster NGC 2323 | last1=Claria | first1=J. J. | last2=Piatti | first2=A. E. | last3=Lapasset | first3=E. | display-authors=1 | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement | volume=128 | pages=131–138 | date=February 1998 | doi=10.1051/aas:1998130 | bibcode=1998A&AS..128..131C | doi-access=free }}

| title=Mass Functions and Photometric Binaries in Nine Open Clusters | last1=Sharma | first1=Saurabh | last2=Pandey | first2=A. K. | last3=Ogura | first3=K. | last4=Aoki | first4=T. | last5=Pandey | first5=Kavita | last6=Sandhu | first6=T. S. | last7=Sagar | first7=R. | display-authors=1 | journal=The Astronomical Journal | volume=135 | issue=5 | pages=1934–1945 | date=May 2008 | doi=10.1088/0004-6256/135/5/1934 | postscript=. | bibcode=2008AJ....135.1934S | arxiv=0803.0122 | s2cid=11895493 }}

| title=Photoelectric search for peculiar stars in open clusters. XV. Feinstein 1, NGC 2168, NGC 2323, NGC 2437, NGC 2547, NGC 4103, NGC 6025, NGC 6633, Stock 2, and Trumpler 2 | last1=Paunzen | first1=E. | last2=Netopil | first2=M. | last3=Maitzen | first3=H. M. | last4=Pavlovski | first4=K. | last5=Schnell | first5=A. | last6=Zejda | first6=M. | journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics | display-authors=1 | volume=564 | id=A42 | pages=8 | date=April 2014 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201423521 | postscript=. | bibcode=2014A&A...564A..42P | arxiv=1403.3538 | s2cid=119174151 }}

| title=Two Massive White Dwarfs from NGC 2323 and the Initial-Final Mass Relation for Progenitors of 4 to 6.5 M | last1=Cummings | first1=Jeffrey D. | last2=Kalirai | first2=Jason S. | last3=Tremblay | first3=P. -E. | last4=Ramirez-Ruiz | first4=Enrico | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | display-authors=1 | volume=818 | issue=1 | id=84 | pages=13 | date=February 2016 | doi=10.3847/0004-637X/818/1/84 | postscript=. | bibcode=2016ApJ...818...84C | arxiv=1601.03053 | s2cid=119263067 | doi-access=free }}

| title=Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders: From Novice to Master Observer | first1=Robert | last1=Thompson | first2=Barbara | last2=Thompson | series=DIY science | publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. | year=2007 | isbn=978-0596526856 | page=321 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ymt9nj_uPhwC&pg=PA321 }}

| last1=Kharchenko | first1=N. V. | last2=Piskunov | first2=A. E. | last3=Röser | first3=S. | last4=Schilbach | first4=E. | last5=Scholz | first5=R.-D. | display-authors=1 | title=Astrophysical parameters of Galactic open clusters | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | volume=438 | issue=3 | pages=1163–1173 | year=2005 | bibcode=2005A&A...438.1163K | arxiv=astro-ph/0501674 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20042523 | s2cid=9079873 | postscript=. }}

| title=Investigation of the open star cluster NGC 2323 (M50) based on the proper motions and photometry of its constituent stars | last1=Frolov | first1=V. N. | last2=Ananjevskaja | first2=Yu. K. | last3=Polyakov | first3=E. V. | display-authors=1 | journal=Astronomy Letters | postscript=. | volume=38 | issue=2 | pages=74–86 | date=February 2012 | doi=10.1134/S106377371202003X | bibcode=2012AstL...38...74F | s2cid=255199532 }}

References

  1. (2025). "Unveiling the binary nature of NGC 2323". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  2. "M 50".

::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. ::

open-clustersorion–cygnus-armmonocerosmessier-objectsngc-objectsastronomical-objects-discovered-in-1711