Situated about 15 degrees east of the bright star Sirius is a pair of bright open clusters, M46, and M47, both of which are easily visible to the naked eye. The two clusters are visible together in binoculars and make an interesting contrast to each other.

M47 is a large, scattered cluster of mostly bright stars, and is a fine object in the telescope. The brighter stars are all blue main sequence objects, indicating a relatively young cluster. To the north of M47 (above) is the large, scattered cluster, NGC 2423, while on the left-hand edge is M46 .

30 minutes exposure, Fuji Super HG V 400 film.
5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

45 minutes exposure, Fuji Super HG V 400 film.
5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

Combination of 6, 30 second images. Modified Canon Digital Rebel DSLR camera.
16" f/10 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.

Combination of 10, 1 minute images using red, green and blue filters.
SBIG ST-9XE CCD camera. f/5 refractor at prime focus.

Combination of 15, 1 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.