Just about two degrees south of Sadr, the 2.2 magnitude star at the center of the Northern Cross asterism, you'll find a wonderful little open star cluster called M29. The resemblance to M45, the Pleiades, in Taurus is so remarkable that I call M29 the Little Sisters. The view through my 10-inch Newtonian at 129X is captured at left. The sketch shows the six brightest cluster members, all 8th and 9th magnitude, arranged in that pattern so familiar to winter sky observers. A handful of 11th magnitude stars completes the portrait with 35 field stars as the framework. Have a look for yourself and let me know whether you think this resembles the great M45.