Butterfly Cluster

Messier 6 (also known as NGC 6405 ) is a 4.2 like bright cluster in the eastern part of the constellation Scorpio, north of Lesath. The cluster has an apparent expansion of 33 'and is about 1,600 light- years away from Earth. Messier 6 was already known in ancient times and is sometimes referred to as a butterfly clusters. It is difficult to observe in central Europe, but in southern latitudes, a conspicuous object.

Discovery

The open cluster was discovered in the period before 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. It is presumed that Claudius Ptolemy might have seen Messier 6 in the observation of Messier 7; however, this is not assured. Regardless observed in 1745 or 1746 of the Swiss Jean -Philippe de Chéseaux Messier 6 Nicolas Louis de Lacaille When he got the name Lac III 12, which in 1752 observed him at the Cape of Good Hope. Charles Messier finally watched him on 23 May 1764 awarded for the number 6 in his catalog.