Two nearby stars and two star clusters

 In an hour before dawn on Oct 26 I was able to image two more nearby stars and two star clusters.  These are all winter objects, but viewing them now in the early morning has the advantage of fall temperatures (balmy 26° F on that morning) rather than the bitter cold of winter.  The two stars are Lalande 21185 and Ross 128, and the two star clusters are M44 and M67.

Here is a finder chart:

credit: SkySafariAstronomy.com

Lalande 21185

Lalande 21185 is a magnitude-7.5 red dwarf star in the constellation Ursa Major.  It is the brightest red dwarf in the northern hemisphere but still requires a small telescope or binoculars to be seen.  It is 8.3 ly distant, making it the fourth closest star system, after Wolf 359. It was first cataloged by French astronomer J. Lalande in 1801, but its high proper motion and close distance were not discovered until 1857-58.  At that time it was thought to be the second closest star system, after Alpha Centauri.  It is a fairly large red dwarf at 0.39 solar masses.  It has two and possibly three planets.

Lalande 21185. E-P5 + Rokinon 135mm f/2. ISO 1600, 60s.

Ross 128

Ross 128 is a magnitude-11.1 red dwarf star in the constellation Virgo.   It is 11.0 ly distant and the 11th closest star system.  It has a mass of 0.18 solar masses and has one known planet with an orbital period of 9.9 d. 

 

Getting an image of this star at this time of year was a race between the brightening pre-dawn sky and waiting for the star to rise over the eastern mountain ridgeline. 

 

Ross 128.  E-P5 + Rokinon 135mm f/2.  ISO 1600, 60s.

 

While waiting for Ross 128 to rise I turned the camera to a couple star clusters in the constellation Cancer.  M44, the "Beehive Cluster", is visible to the naked eye and is mentioned in ancient literature.  It is 610 ly distant.  It is an excellent target for binocular viewing.

M44.  E-P5 + Rokinon 135mm f/2.  ISO 1600, 60 s.

Nearby is the open cluster M67.  This cluster is about 2600 ly distant and is also a good target for binocular viewing.

M67.  E-P5 + Rokinon 135mm f/2.  ISO 1600, 60 s.

 All four images have a field of view of 2°.  Click to get the gallery view and access to the full-size versions.