Starwatch: how to see star cluster M41 with the naked eye

This week's challenge is to look for the faint star cluster close to Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky

While you are keeping a watch on Betelgeuse to see if it is returning to its usual brightness, there is another challenge waiting in the skies around the constellation of Orion, the hunter. It is to see the faint star cluster M41 with theT naked eye. Catalogued by Charles Messier in the late 18th century, M41 is a collection of about one hundred stars in a volume about 25 light years across. It lies at a distance of around 2,300 light years from Earth.