All this week and all next week, binocular users will watch a treat with Mars slowly crossing the field of the Beehive star cluster. This passage has no trick!
The Beehive, aka M44, is a star cluster in central Cancer. Every so often, planets appear to move through it. However, on all occasions, each particular planet is only a few tens of millions or a few hundreds of millions of miles away. The Beehive is much, much farther — close to 500 light years distant or 500 x 5.9 trillion miles.
Mars and the Beehive rise about 12:30 a.m., so you should wait an hour or two for them to inch high enough above the horizon to give a decent view. Telescopes will magnify the image too much, destroying the cluster effect of the many dim stars of the Beehive. Binoculars show a field that is just right!
Such is our view from Earth ...
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