M46 Observation Details
M46 Daily Motion
M46 will be visible until April, 18, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M46 Visibility Timetable on December 21
Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Astrosession begin | 18:48 | -25° |
| M46 rise | 21:00 | |
| Moon Rise, 57% illuminated | 23:50 | 26° |
| M46 transit | 02:08 | 35° |
| Astrosession end | 06:13 | 11° |
| M46 set | 07:16 | |
| Moon Set | 12:24 | -56° |
Track M46 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 21 December 2024 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M46 - Open Cluster
M46 is an open cluster located in the constellation Puppis. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1771. The cluster contains a mix of young, hot stars and older stars, along with a planetary nebula (NGC 2438) superimposed on it.
M46 spans about 30 light-years across and contains around 500 stars. The cluster is approximately 5,400 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.1, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M46 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M46
| Object name | M46 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M46 coordinates | 7.69634, -14.81 |
| Center coordinates | 7.69634, -14.81 |
M46 Passage Through Night
Current position of M46
| Time | 12:19 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M46 elevation | -55° |
| M46 Azimuth | 52° |
Annual motion of M46
| Date | Sun, 22 December 2024 |
| Twighlight start | 18:44 |
| Twighlight end | 06:07 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 23m |
| Rise | 21:00 |
| Set | 07:16 |
| Elevation at transit | 35° |
| Transit time | 02:08 |
| Equatorial coordinate | RA: 07h 41m 46s", Dec: -14° 48' 36s |
| Magnitude | 6 |
| Constellation | Puppis |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M46 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.