Messier Objects - M35

On Friday, March 3, 2017 the weather was very good for observing before the epic cold front set in.  I was able to map three constellations and one Messier object.  I had been viewing M35 for a few weeks since Gemini came back into view over the eastern horizon and decided to log it last week.  It was the first time I tried out my dual finderscope.  Previous to Friday I had only been using a mini-telescope without a diagonal on it.  This was very difficult to use as you had to be a yoga instructor just to get your head behind it.

The dual finderscope I am currently employing has a mini-telescope with a diagonal attached with a red dot finder on the other side.  The diagonal eyepiece allows you to stand like a normal person to use it.  The red dot finder is perfect to line up with a bright star with no magnification.  When both instruments are correctly aligned with the main scope it becomes easy to find objects in the night sky.  An image below shows my finderscope setup that attaches to the main scope.

Dual Finderscope Arrangement

M35 is particularly easy to find as it is just above two naked eye stars in Gemini: Eta Geminorum and 1 Geminorum.  It is a fairly bright open cluster that spanned approximately 45% of my 48' field of view in a 25mm eyepiece.  This would give it an observed angular diameter of 29' which matched closely to the officially recognized size of 28'.  I was happy with this outcome since it was the first time I tried measuring a deep-sky object.

Unfortunately the sky was not completely transparent as clouds were rolling in and I was unable to find NGC 2158 located less than half a degree away.  The observation record is provided below.

M35 Observation Record

The weather is anticipated to get better next week and I will spend some time this evening putting together an observation plan to catch some Winter sights before they are gone for the year.  Also, I am hoping to grab some photographs of the recorded Messier objects to finish off the logs and archive them.  These objects will certainly be more exciting to share with pictures attached to them!

2017 Week 11: (March 12-18)

This upcoming week has a few sights to see in the sky.  The weather is supposed to finally be fantastic and there should be plenty of opportunities to see some great things.  The Moon will be full on March 12 but it will likely still be cloudy at that time.  The zodiacal light will be strong again for the last two weeks of March.  A link to my blog post on zodiacal light from February 4 is provided below:

Zodiacal Light

Jupiter is making its presence known in the evening sky.  Look toward the east after 10pm and you will see a very bright object rising up from the horizon.  On Tuesday you can see the largest planet sitting just South of the Moon.  Jupiter will be approaching opposition on April 7 and will continue to grow larger and brighter.  If you love Saturn you're still going to have to wait until 3am for it to rise low in the southeastern sky.

Date	Event
Mar 12	Full Moon
Mar 14	Zodiacal Light visible for 2 weeks in western sky
Mar 14	Jupiter 2°S of Moon
Mar 18	Moon at Apogee

When the Moon is full you should turn your binoculars on it.  The ejecta lines from meteor impacts are typically at their best contrast during a Full Moon.  In the image below you can see the amazing impact lines emanating from the crater Tycho located at the top left.

Full Moon, September 2016

The last thing to keep an eye on is Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak which will continue to grow brighter throughout the week and month.  It will be cruising through the southern portion of Ursa Major this week heading toward the Big Dipper.

Good luck with the sky this week and enjoy the weather!

Comet Alert: 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak

This month there will be a visible comet in the skies.  41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak is a comet approximately 1.5km in diameter with a period of about 5.5 years.  The last time it reached perihelion it was not visible because it was on the far side of the Sun from Earth.  Previous to that apparition it only became 10th magnitude in 2006; to be seen in telescopes.  However, this year it may become brighter than 7th magnitude.  This will allow it to be easily seen in a common set of household binoculars.

Let's discuss how to find it.  The first map shows the comet's progression from January to the end of March.  As you can see it goes right through the spoon of the Big Dipper.

41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak: January 30 - March 26, 2017

The next map shows its progression when it will be closest to the Earth and at its brightest throughout April.

41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak: March 26 - May 5, 2017

The easiest time to find it will be on April 2 when it will be at its brightest and about half a degree from the naked eye star Alpha Draconis (Thuban).  The comet will fit into the same field of view as Thuban using a telescope with a moderate focal length eyepiece.  Thuban and the comet will easily fit into the same field of view with a pair of binoculars from April 1-3.  Provided below are star maps for April 2, 2017.

41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak: April 2, 2017, Zoomed Out

41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak: April 2, 2017, Zoomed In

This area of the sky should be easy to find.  Look for the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.  The spoon end of the Little Dipper will point to the second star in the handle of the Big Dipper.  About halfway in between will be a a naked eye star.  This is Alpha Draconis -- your target.  Using binoculars or a telescope put this star into your view on April 2 and you should see the comet.  This is likely to be the brightest comet of 2017 so I hope you have the opportunity to see it.  When the weather gets better I'll give it a shot earlier in March when it is hanging around Ursa Major's back paws.  Interestingly it will be in the same telescopic field of view as two Messier Objects: M97 and M108 on March 22.  If the weather cooperates it would be an amazing view right under the spoon of the Big Dipper.

Explore the Universe - Auriga

The constellation of Auriga was relatively unknown to me until I decided to study it in the Winter of 2017.  It has been a known constellation since the first Mesopotemian civilizations that thrived several thousand years ago.  It is supposed to represent a charioteer.

Several ancient Greek myths involve charioteers throughout history.  The mythological Athenian king, Erichthonius, is recorded to be associated with the constellation.  It is said that the smith god Hephaestus had unwittingly impregnated the primordial Greek deity Gaia and she bore Erichthonius.  He was given to Athena who was to guard and protect him.  At some point she placed him in a box with a serpent and gave him to three Athenian princesses with the instructions to never open the box.  Overcome with curiosity they opened the box and were killed by the snake.  When Erichthonius grew up he overthrew the usurper king of Athens and he, himself became king.  He taught the people of Athens how to use horses to pull chariots.  He even invented the four-horse chariot and used it to race in Greek games.  His skill at chariot racing was renowned throughout the land and even impressed Zeus who raised him to be immortalized in the sky as Auriga.  An artistic depiction is shown below.  He is usually shown holding baby lambs under his arms with a whip in his free hand.

Auriga (Artist Interpretation)

The constellation, although lesser known, is fairly bright and is right overhead during Winter in the Northern Hemisphere.  Its brightest star, Capella, is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere after Vega and Arcturus.  The main body of the constellation was easy to map due to the brightness of the stars.  However, Auriga is a fairly large constellation which made finding the dimmer stars more difficult, especially the ones forming the whip.  Beta Tauri (Elnath), the lower horn of Taurus, is almost always used to join the asterism into a nice shape.  A record of my observation is shown below.

Auriga Observing Record

I spent a lot of time observing the three Messier objects contained in the constellation.  The Milky Way runs right through the middle of the constellation which shows off its many open clusters.  M36, M37 and M38 are all fairly bright open clusters quite near each other between Beta Tauri and Theta Aurigae.  Even with low transparency due to cloud cover I was able to see all three Messier objects with my 8" telescope.

You can see this constellation throughout December in the eastern sky being poked by the horns of Taurus.

Stay warm and keep looking up!

Explore the Universe - Canis Minor

Canis Minor is a sometimes overlooked constellation that hangs out in our sky during the Winter.

The myth of the Greek dog Laelaps hunting the Teumessian Fox discussed in the Canis Major blog has Canis Minor representing the Teumessian Fox.  Another Greek myth talks about Icarius of Athens who was a disciple of the Greek god Dionysus.  He fed wine to his shepherds but they thought he had poisoned them and subsequently killed him.  His daughter, Erigone, found his body and was so consumed with grief she killed herself.  Their faithful family dog, Maera, who had led the search for Icarius leaped off a cliff.  Dionysus was so saddened by the news he placed Icarius, Erigone and Maera in the sky for eternity as Bootes, Virgo and Canis Minor.  Canis Minor is placed alongside the Milky Way, a great river of stars so that Maera would never thirst.  An artistic rendering of Canis Minor is shown below.

Canis Minor (Artist Interpretation)

It was very easy to map the constellation as there are only a few Bayer stars contained therein.  It took only a few minutes to correctly identify the significant stars.  A map of the constellation is provided below.

Canis Minor Observing Record

The constellation does not contain any Messier objects and is home to one meteor shower, the Canis Minorids.  The Canis Minorids are a very minor shower occurring during the early weeks in December.  Although Canis Minor may seem like a small, insignificant constellation it contains the eighth brightest star in the sky -- Procyon.  Procyon is a relatively close star at 11.5 light years away and forms part of what is known as the Winter Hexagon.

The Winter Hexagon is Winter's version of the Summer Triangle.  It is a hexagon consisting of six very bright Winter stars from six constellations: Capella from Auriga, Aldebaran from Taurus, Rigel from Orion, Sirius from Canis Major, Procyon from Canis Minor and Pollux from Gemini.  Some astronomers refer to the approximate equilateral triangle of Procyon, Betelgeuse and Sirius as the Winter Triangle.

Winter Hexagon

If the sky is clear at this time of year, see if you can find the small dog!

Constellation Profile - Cancer

I had the opportunity to map the dim constellation Cancer on March 3, 2017.  A casual observer would absolutely hate this constellation when looking at it from the city.  It is the dimmest zodiac constellation and only a handful of stars can be seen under urban light pollution.  As far as apparent magnitude the second brightest object in the constellation is, in fact, a Messier object: M44 -- The Beehive Cluster.  Cancer is the zodiacal constellation for those born between June 22 and July 22.  My middle child is a cancer.

There are several myths associated with Cancer the crab.  It is said that while Heracles was fighting the infamous hydra, the goddess Hera sent a crab to distract him.  Heracles not missing a beat during the fight kicked the crab so hard it wound up in the sky.  Other sources have Heracles squashing the crab beneath is feet and Hera placed the crab in the sky for its courage.  Since the crab lost the fight it received no bright stars.  An artist interpretation is shown below and you can actually see the Beehive Cluster in the

Cancer (Artist Interpretation)

Cancer was particularly a difficult constellation to map due to the very few bright stars, light pollution and the partly cloudy sky on March 3.  I used M44 as a guide to hop to the stars throughout the constellation with my binoculars.  The log is provided below.

Cancer Observation Record

I hope you have a chance to find some stars in this constellation.  M44 is certainly quite beautiful in a pair of binoculars.  Also, if you have a wide-field telescope it would definitely be worth hunting it down!  If you are lucky you might be able to snag M67, a fainter open cluster just to the West of Alpha Cancri at the bottom left of the constellation.

Explore the Universe - Leo

When I first started out in astronomy Leo was my go to constellation.  It is high in the sky during the month of April and is recognizable by its many bright stars.  It is a zodiacal constellation corresponding to those born between July 23 and August 22.

Leo has been known since the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia more than 6000 years ago.  All of the ancient records agree that it represents a great Lion.  In Greek Mythology a fearsome beast known as the Nemean Lion would capture women and hold them in his cave located on the northeastern Peloponnese.  Many warriors would fight for their freedom but the Nemean Lion legendary golden fur was immune to any attacks with weapons.  The king dismayed by this beast had Heracles participate in his first of twelve labours to rid the land of the great lion.  Heracles fought the lion in his cave with his bare hands and defeated it and freed the trapped maidens.  The goddess of wisdom and war taught Heracles to use the lion's own claws to skin it since no instrument known to man could.  Upon his triumph, Zeus placed the lion in the sky as a tribute to this great labour.  An artistic interpretation is shown below.

Leo (Artist Interpreation)

Mapping the constellation was not incredibly easy.  Leo is a fairly large constellation with broad borders both in right ascension and declination.  Some of the Bayer classified stars are in regions with very little else in the sky.  A review of the Bayer system is linked below from a previous blog entry.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/01/explore-universe-alpha-capricorni.html

An image of the binocular mapping I created is shown below.

Leo Observing Record

Leo has many deep sky objects and contains five Messier objects.  There are many NGC objects scattered around under the lion's stomach and in the hindquarters area.  I am hoping to study some of these deep sky objects in the coming weeks and months.  I had a difficult time finding them last year but lacked the expertise to regularly even find a bright star in my telescope.  Leo is home to the famous Leo Triplet, a close group of three galaxies that can easily fit in an eyepiece with an apparent field of view of 40' or above.

In mid-November there is a meteor shower that has a radiant point just above Leo's neck.  The shower is typically only around 15 meteors per hour but has known to storm in the hundreds some years.  There is a paper written on predictions for the shower during the 21st century.  A link to it is provided below:

Leonid Meteor Shower Predictions