M 41 is a bright open cluster in the constellation Canis Major,
4 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It is
visible to the unaided eye as a faint fuzzy patch, and may have
been seen and discussed by Aristotle in 320 B.C. It contains about
100 stars, several of them red giants. M 41 is 25 light years across,
and 2300 light years from earth.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (modified)
Telecope: William Optics 66mmZS, 0.8x reducer / field flattener
Exposure: ISO 800, 2 minutes x 30