The open star cluster called the "Beehive", other wise known as Praesepe or M44, is visible to the naked eye from a dark sky site. This open cluster in Cancer was considered a means to forecasting weather by the ancients. If the Beehive was clearly visible, weather was predicted to be good; when poorly seen, weather was predicted to be less than ideal. Of course, this was in the days before light pollution, so if applied to the skies at my location, it means we are always going to have very bleak weather, at least if you are only using your eyes. In the light polluted Chicago area suburbs, you definitely need a
binocular to see the Beehive. That's why, at about 5AM, this morning, as I dressed for work, I took a minute to put the Beehive in my
Nikon 7x50 Prostar binocular but any mid-sized or full size binocular will do - really quite a lovely sight in any binocular. In my 7x59, for instance, the stars Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis nicely framed the cluster above and below. Seeing it this way, Joanie's forecast is for nice weather, today.