Mars Shines with Cosmic Beehive This Week: How to See It

On Thursday morning (Aug. 20), however, skygazers will get a special treat, when the planet Mars appears in the midst of hundreds of stars: the open star cluster known as the Beehive, Praesepe, or Messier 44. This star cluster is called "the Beehive" because of its resemblance to a swarm of the buzzing insects. Finally, it is number 44 in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects.