M37, the "salt-and-pepper cluster", is the brightest and richest open star cluster in the constellation Auriga, as it contains about 500 stars, of which about 150 are brighter than 12.5 magnitudes. It is located in the antipodal direction, i.e. opposite to the Milky Way center, as seen from the Earth, at a distance of about 4,500 light-years. Its apparent diameter is about 24 arcminutes. The age of M37 has been estimated to be between 350 million and 550 million years. M37 contains at least a dozen red giant stars. The abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium is similar to the abundance in the the Sun or slightly higher.
M37 was first discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna in the early 1650s.
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