- Messier 47 (Wikipedia)
Messier 47 (M47 or NGC 2422) and also known as NGC 2478 is an open cluster in the mildly southern constellation of Puppis. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and in his then keynote work re-discovered by Charles Messier on 1771. It was also independently discovered by Caroline Herschel.