For March the All Arizona Messier Marathon month scope out high in the northern sky Lynx.  All but one are galaxies and we start with the barred spiral NGC2273 is about 1° 25’ north of northwest from 14 Lyncis.  Next is the elliptical NGC2320 is about 1° 30’ southwest from magnitude 5.5 UY Lyncis.  There are five other galaxies in a one-degree field, all of which are fainter than 14^th magnitude.  Can you ferret them out?  Give it a try and post your results here.  Another barred spiral is UGC 3685, listed as a 12^th magnitude galaxy by the SAC database, is almost between two 8^th magnitude stars.  One of the stars is BV Lyncis and the other SAO 14106.  Next is NGC2340 is 16’ north of 8^th magnitude SAO 41600.  In a 30 arc-minute field there are 3 more NGC and 6 more IC galaxies – all very faint!  Thirty-five arc-minutes west of magnitude 5.5 SAO 41644 will be found NGC2344.  Finally, one of the main attractions if not the main attraction of Lynx is the globular cluster NGC2419, often called the intergalactic tramp due to its extreme distance from the Milky Way galaxy.  If you haven’t seen this one take a look as soon as possible.  It can be found about 40’ northwest from 6^th magnitude SAO 60257.

During the January SAC meeting I was talking to some members about their observations in Puppis, so I decided that for April that should be a good constellation.  This will give us a break from galaxies and give us a chance do some open clusters and planetary nebulae.  So, with so much to choose from and so little space, where do we start?  M47, of course!  Next is M46!  Third is NGC2438 the planetary nebula towards the north of northwest segment of M46.  This is expected to be a separate observation that is not to be included with the magnificent M46.  Try all the power the evening permits, try filters and try a hood to see what kind of detail you can record.  Let us know your findings.  Next up is NGC2539 another large open cluster at about 30 arc-minutes.  It should be easily found as 5^th magnitude 19 Puppis is located just at the edge of this cluster.  Another open cluster NGC2527, also named NGC2520, is located about 4° south of rho Puppis is a pretty rich grouping of stars.  Finally, the most southerly of this batch and located towards the west side of the constellation is Collinder 135, a large bright open cluster that included pi Puppis.  At magnitude 2.1 and about 50 arc-minutes, can you see it with your naked eye?  I wish we had time for more as there are enough clusters and nebula for more visits.  For now, enjoy this tour.