M-38 (NGC-1912) is a bright open star cluster in the constellation of Auriga the Charioteer. It is located 2.3 degrees west of the cluster M-36. It is more open in structure than M-36. It lies 3400 light years from Earth and is 25 light years in diameter. It was discovered by Hodierna in 1654, and Charles Messier added it to his catalog in 1764 as number 38. It contains over 100 stars and is approximately 290 million years old.
This image, acquired on October 30, 2008, is ONE OF MY EARLIEST CCD IMAGES. It is a 15 minute integration of 25 second UNGUIDED exposures through the ORION 80ED APO refractor at f/3.75, using the ORION STARSHOOT color CCD camera. Captured and combined using Maxim DL Essentials, Post processed using PhotoShop CS, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.