[sac-forum] Taurus and Ursa Major

From: "AJ Crayon" <acrayon@xxxxxxx>
To: "SAC Forum" <sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:51:39 -0700
Here's a reminder for the next two Call for Observation constellations.

Funny, my records show we haven't done Taurus.  Now sure how came but this will 
put and end to that.  Let's head to the main show piece of showpieces, M 45, 
for instance.  Try it naked eye, how many stars can you count, and with 
binoculars, don't forget the size in addition to telescope.  While grousing 
about with M 45, look up vdB 20 and vdB 23.  They are nebulosity for Electra 
and Alcyone, respectively.  Now slip over to the northeast and find NGC1514, an 
attractive 10th mag planetary nebula.  What features do you find attractive?  
Moving almost 3° to the southeast, find the dark nebula Barnard 7, its narrow 
east / west.  I find some differences amongst coordinates for this dark nebula; 
so if you don't see what you are expecting, then try panning around for a 
degree or so noting differences.  The final selection is NGC1647, a large 
bright open cluster, which is located in the Hyades.  Brian Skiff has this one 
listed as questionable for naked eye visibility.  Check and see if you can 
detect, certainly from a dark site only.  The list for this month may see short 
for object count but there is much to say about its contests.

 

April will find us in Ursa Major, for third time but there's much to see here 
in the way of galaxies.  We will stay in the western part of the constellation, 
saving the eastern for another month.  One of the western most galaxies is UGC 
4305 a rather moderate size irregular with a magnitude of 11.1.  Next is 
NGGC2681, a Herschel 400 entry that is about ½ the size of the first entry but 
brighter at mag 10.3.  See if you can spot something more than the brighter 
middle, don't forget to try a hood.  The next 3 galaxies are all on the 
Herschel 400 list.  First is NGC2742, a late type spiral galaxy.  Its moderate 
size should display some nice detail.  NGC2768 could be the largest and is 
quite bright at magnitude 9.9.  Try to ferret out as much detail as possible.  
The last NGC2841 in addition to being a Herschel entry is also on the SAC list 
of the 110 Best NGC Objects.  No wonder, it has the brightest magnitude at 9.2 
is very elongated with some nice detail in its spiral arms.  See if you can 
estimate the PA of elongation - without cheating.  Then compare your results.  
Finally there's NGC2850, a rather large, late type spiral.  What do you 
estimate its magnitude and surface brightness - again without cheating.  Then 
compare your results.

 

I am planning on something a little different for May so stay tuned.



Hopefully we will get some clear, steady and transparent skies in the next 
couple of weeks or so.



Clear skies and send me some observations,

aj
[sac-forum] Taurus and Ursa Major

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