Charles Messier (March 20th 1781):
'A cluster of small stars without nebulosity between Canus Major and the prow of Navis (today Puppis). Diameter 8 arc minutes.'
Smyth:
'A neat group of star-fish shape……….'
Quote from Dreyer's New General Catalog(NGC) for NGC 2447:
'Cluster, large, westward rich in stars, little compressed, stars of magnitude 8 to 13; = M93.'
Quote from Deep Sky Field Guide to Uranometria 2000:
"Rich in stars; large brightness range; strong central concentration; detached; 80 stars."
M-93 is a bright, easy to find, open star cluster in the Constellation Puppis. It is a beautiful object in 20x80 binoculars. The cluster was discovered by Charles Messier on March 20th, 1781. Smyth suggested that it resembles a “star fish”, but K.G. Jones thought it more like a “butterfly with open wings”.
There are several conflicting distance estimates, with Wallenquist’s being: distance = 3,600 light years, diameter = 18 light years.
George Normandin, KAS
March 9th, 2008