16 replies to this topic

[Charlie Hein]

"The Smiling Cyclops", an asterism.

By Will Young

[Polaris_PL]

Hello,
in Poland we call it a "Cat's Paw". It's quite famous, tiny asterism inside the real jewel of autumn sky.

[darthwyll]

That's really cool. I've never really heard anyone talk much about it in the States. To me it was obvious as soon as I saw it. Thanks for reading!

[droid]

Nice ,Ive looked at the double cluster hundreds of times and never noticed it, but then again I lack imagination sometimes.
By the way the link you included below your name, doesnt work.
Thanks for sharing this

[John Kuraoka]

I love it - and I love the "Cat's Paw" name too. I'm definitely going to look for it the next clear sky I get.

By the way, minor typo: toward the end of the second paragraph, it reads "NGC86" instead of "NGC869."

Thanks for the new way (to me, anyway) to look at the double cluster!

[darthwyll]

The web addres is www.asset-astronomer.org

Strange that it didn't work. Thanks for spotting the typo, John. Hopefully I can edit that in. It is indeed supposed to be NGC869.

[jjack's]

For me it's the smiling devil. It have some curved horns over is head !

[Carol L]

To me it always looked like an eye with a tired 'bag' suspended under it.
TBH though, i like your 'Smiling Cyclops' idea a lot better.

[rkrdr]

Excellent article, sir. I enjoyed reading it and immediately knew what you were talking about!
Welcome to CN.

[zawijava]

I've been calling it the "Cyclops Smiley Face" for quite some time now....Club Members here are likely tired of hearing it from me every time I look/show the Double Cluster

"The Smiling Cyclops", an asterism.

By Will Young

[csa/montana]

Great article. I've not noticed this asterism before, so am glad attention is drawn to it for others like me, that haven't seen it!

[Doug Culbertson]

You know, that asterism has always been one of the first things I noticed when looking at the Double Cluster, but I never thought of the possiblilty of it being named. OK, it's the second thing I notice, right after the carbon stars.

[FractorFiend]

Somebody introduced it to me as the "Cowboy Cluster". He's upside down in the image. The "smile" is his hat, the "eye" is the knot in his bolo tie, and you can see his chaps extending away on the other side.
It's easily overlooked because you need to put some power on it, and one usually starts at pretty low power on the double cluster.

Deane

[plav1959]

I've always heard it referred to as Stick Man.

[PhilH]

I've always heard it referred to as Stick Man.

Paul,

You might be thinking of the open cluster Stock 2, which lies next to the Double Cluster. That's often referred to as the "Muscleman Cluster" or "Strongman Cluster.:

Here's a quote from my November 2009 Binocular Universe e-column, which you can read right here on CN:

John Davis from Amherst, Massachusetts, mentioned to me more than 20 years ago that the brighter stars [of Stock 2] almost look like a headless stick figure flexing his muscles, christening it the "Muscleman Cluster." His legs stretch out in two straight lines to the east, while his flexing arms curve to the west, above his long, albeit headless neck. Others remark that the pattern is more reminiscent of a pirouetting ballerina, again sans head. Muscleman or ballerina not withstanding, the next time you are drinking in the beauty of the Double Cluster, be sure to swing northward and spot Stock 2 in the same field of view.

[darthwyll]

It's been a long long while but my asterism was featured in Sky & Telescope!

 

http://www.skyandtel...common-objects/

[zawijava]

It's been a long long while but my asterism was featured in Sky & Telescope!

 

http://www.skyandtel...common-objects/

Ha! Well..... I've been calling it the Cyclops Smiley Face for nearly 30-40 years now.....and I was around when the Smiley Face was invented.....but it's all yours, I never claimed it LOL

 

:-)