what's up this month?
The diagrams below are snapshots taken from Skysafari 6Pro to show the view to the North, East, South and West at 9pm on 1st February. Skysafari is an excellent App, available in a free standard version, then Plus and Pro with increasing functionality. Both iOS and Android versions are available.
skysafariastronomy.com/
These descriptions cover just a few of the wonderful objects visible at this time of year, using an app like Skysafari or Stellarium on a PC will allow you to search for targets to view with your binoculars or scopes. This link shows more sights for January, and will be updated to February when available:
www.skymaps.com/downloads.html
skysafariastronomy.com/
These descriptions cover just a few of the wonderful objects visible at this time of year, using an app like Skysafari or Stellarium on a PC will allow you to search for targets to view with your binoculars or scopes. This link shows more sights for January, and will be updated to February when available:
www.skymaps.com/downloads.html
north
Cassiopeia is well worth a trawl around with its many open clusters, NGC457 being a favourite, the ET or Owl Cluster. Caroline's Rose is a lovely, delicate cluster than needs dark sky and some magnification to get the best out of, but is well, worth seeking out. The famous Double Cluster sits between Cassiopeia and Perseus (technically in Perseus) and looks wonderful in a scope. Round to the NE a little, but still at good altitude, M81 and M82, Bode's Nebula and the Cigar Galaxy are a fine pair of galaxies visible in most scopes under reasonable skies. The oval of M81 contrasting with the thin cigar shape of M82, the latter being more likely to show some texture in the centre. Directly North at just over 51 degrees altitude, the North star, Polaris is found by following the Pointers at the top of the Plough, and shows a lovely tiny pin point secondary star at higher powers.
East
To the NE, in the handle of the Plough asterism, the star Mizar is a naked eye double with steady skies, its companion Alcor showing faintly alongside it. Through a scope at almost any power, Mizar itself splits into two stars, making a beautiful triple, all part of the same star system. M51, the Whirlpool galaxy is a target for dark skies, where it should show a two galactic cores with haloes around them. A big scope and very dark skies will show the beautiful spiral galaxy. Leo is rising in the E at 9pm, getting better placed through the night and as the month progresses. Algieba is a fine, close double at 4.7" separation, whilst the Leo triplet of Galaxies, M65, M66 and NGC 3628 need to be higher in the sky to be at their best, one to wait for. Into Cancer, M44, the Beehive Cluster is a large target which is best at lower power, whilst M67 is smaller and benefits from higher magnification.
south
The view South in the winter months is dominated by Orion, a constellation that has plenty to offer either naked eye, with binoculars or a scope. The most famous target is M42, the Great Orion nebula. Showing as a fuzzy star with the naked eye, the middle star in Orion's sword resolves into beautiful nebulosity with a scope, and the trapezium of four young blue stars which illuminate the reflection nebula show clearly. Good seeing and a high quality scope will also show two additional stars in this little cluster. Other targets to mention are the lovely multiple star Sigma Orionis, which should resolve into four stars in the right conditions. Further up, the little cluster NGC2169 makes a beautiful upside down 37 in a scope. Betelgeuse and Rigel are a fine example of the different star colours visible in the night sky, the former a clear Orange, and the latter a white, slightly blue perhaps, with a tiny secondary visible closeby at higher powers. Into Gemini and Castor shows as a tight, uneven brightness double, both stars whiteish, and staying in Gemini the Eskimo Nebula is a lovely planetary nebula benefiting from high power while M35 is another lovely open cluster.
west
Finally to the SW, the Hyades open cluster is best seen in binoculars or with the naked ey, dominated by the orange star Aldebaran. Near Zeta Tauri, the Crab nebula, M1 is a supernova remnant still visible nearly 1000 years after it exploded in 1054, noted by Chinese astronomers and best seen under a dark sky. Off the shoulder of Taurus, the Pleiades, Seven Sisters or M45 are a beautiful open cluster of blue white young stars, best in a widefield scope or in binoculars. Mars is low down in the West, far past its best and showing only a tiny reddish orange disk now, but still discernible as a planet, whilst nearby Uranus is harder to distinguish from a star, but shows a greyish green colour and as a disk at high power. Finally, and could just as easily be listed in the Southern description, Auriga is a beautiful constellation, famous for its three bright open clusters, M36 the Pinwheel, M37, and M38 the Starfish cluster. To the NW, the Andromeda Galaxy is high overhead, the core of which is visible even under quite heavy light pollution. Under a dark sky the full extent starts to become visible with binoculars or a widefield scope. M33 is close by, definitely a dark sky object due to its low surface brightness.
