Mars will appear to join the Beehive Cluster of stars in the night sky - how you can see it

The Red Planet will sit in the middle of the Beehive Cluster in an amazing line of sight effect 
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Until Friday (2 June), Mars is sitting in the Beehive cluster. The red planet will appear to be passing across the collection of stars for the next two nights and will be a noticeable red gem which can be spotted with any optical aid. 

The stars in this cluster are around 577 light years away, which is around a hundred light years closer than Betelgeuse, which has also been very visible in the night sky recently.

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Mars only passes the cluster until Friday, since on Saturday the planet would have travelled beyond this young collection. 

How to see Mars in the Beehive cluster 

Mars will appear to visit the Beehive Cluster over the next two nights and will be best seen in the western sky a few hours after sunset. The planet will appear closer to the centre of the cluster on 2 June, before passing by on 3 June. 

Due to the full moon, and the placement of Cancer, the cluster will not be as visible to the naked eye. To see the red planet in the cluster, you will need a pair of binoculars, which will help you see around 20 stars. Using something more powerful, such as an astrophotography camera or a stargazing telescope, you may be able to pick up some more. Even a smartphone camera may work - you will just need to know where to look. 

To find Mars, you need to look out for Venus, which is seen in the west and looks like a very bright white light. There will be two bright stars to one side of the planet, Pollux and Castor, and above that will be this bright reddish light. That will be Mars. The cluster then can be spotted beside the planet in this line of sight effect. 

Mars will be visible in the Beehive Cluster for the next two nightsMars will be visible in the Beehive Cluster for the next two nights
Mars will be visible in the Beehive Cluster for the next two nights

What is the Beehive cluster? 

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The Beehive Cluster, also known as M44, is an open cluster in the constellation of Cancer. An open cluster is created of tens to a few thousand stars initially formed from the same giant molecular cloud, and all have roughly the same age.

M44 holds around one thousand stars and is one of the nearest clusters to Earth. In fact, this cluster was one of the first objects Galileo studied with his telescope. The stars are estimated to be around 600 million years old. When visibility is low, the stars look like a nebula and are always noticeable in the night sky. 

How does Mars look in our sky? 

Mars hangs close to Earth and is discernible as a red light in the night sky. Although 300.93 million kilometres away, or 186 million miles, Mars is the closest planet to us and has a reddish colour on its surface due to the finely-grained iron (III) oxide dust in the soil. But as it is one of the celestial objects near us, it remains one of the brightest objects in the night sky. 

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