The dazzling 4.5-magnitude open star cluster M41 dangles in Canis Major some 4° south of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. From a dark site, the cluster shines to the unaided eyes as a misty glow, like a metal tag on the collar of the celestial Dog.
M41 may have been identified by Aristotle, who described a star with a tail in the Dog — not surprising coming from a man who took a shining interest in comets. Today, the cluster appears to unaided eyes exactly as he described