Welcome to the December challenge. While I normally spend weeks trying to decide what to put on the list, this time I did it in one hour because I am in filling in. So this will be short but sweet. A few of these objects have not appeared on previous challenges.
Galaxy: M74, Caldwell 24, NGC383/Arp331, NGC7217
SNR: M1
Open Cluster: M103, Kemble's Cascade, M45(if M45 is too big for your setup then NGC1435),
Planetary Nebula: NGC1535
Emission Nebula: NGC1491
Planet: Jupiter (I had to put this on the list given SharpCap's new Planetary Live Stacking)
More Details (Added Dec 2)
M74: From Wikipedia: Messier 74 (also known as NGC 628 and Phantom Galaxy) is a large spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms and is therefore used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe.
Caldwell 24/NGC 1275 is a member of the large Perseus Cluster of galaxies. It is a type of Seyfert galaxy. How may galaxies can you see?
NGC383/Arp331: From Wikipedia: NGC 383 is a double radio galaxy[3] with a quasar-like appearance located in the constellation Pisces. It is listed in Halton C. Arp's 1966 "The Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies." Recent discoveries by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in 2006 reveal that NGC 383 is being bisected by high energy relativistic jets traveling at relatively high fractions of the speed of light. The relativistic electrons in the jets are detected as synchrotron radiation in the x-ray and radio wavelengths. The focus of this intense energy is the galactic center of NGC 383.
NGC7217: From Wikipedia: NGC 7217 main features are the presence of several rings of stars concentric to its nucleus: three main ones –the outermost one being of the most prominent and the one that features most of the gas and star formation of this galaxy – plus several others inside the innermost one discovered with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope; a feature that suggests NGC 7217's central regions have suffered several starbursts.
M1: From Wikipedia: The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula was discovered by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731. It corresponds with a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054 as a guest star. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified that corresponds with a historically-observed supernova explosion.
M103: From Wikipedia: Messier 103 (also known as NGC 581) is an open cluster where a few hundred, mainly very faint, stars figure in Cassiopeia. It was discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier's friend and collaborator Pierre Méchain. It is located between 8,000 to 9,500 light-years from the Solar System and ranging over about 15 light years. It holds about 40 certain-member stars, two of which have magnitudes 10.5, and a 10.8 red giant, which is the brightest within the cluster. A bright known foreground object is the star Struve 131, not a member of the cluster. M103 is about 22 million years old.
Kemble's Cascade: From Wikipedia: Kemble's Cascade (designated Kemble 1) is an asterism located in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is an apparent straight line of more than 20 colourful 5th to 10th magnitude stars over a distance of approximately 3 degrees (five moon diameters) of the night sky. It appears to "flow" into the compact open cluster NGC 1502, which can be found at one end.
M45(or NGC1435): From Wikipedia: The Pleiades also known as the Seven Sisters, Messier 45, and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of about 444 light years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth. It is the nearest Messier object to Earth, and is the most obvious cluster to the naked eye in the night sky. It is also observed to house the reflection nebula NGC 1432, an HII region.
The Merope Nebula (also known as Tempel's Nebula and NGC 1435) is a diffuse reflection nebula in the Pleiades star cluster, surrounding the 4th magnitude star Merope. It was discovered on October 19, 1859 by the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel. The discovery was made using a 10.5cm refractor. John Herschel included it as 768 in his General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars but never observed it himself.
NGC1535: From Wikipedia: NGC 1535 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Eridanus, discovered by William Herschel on February 1, 1785. It is very similar to the Eskimo Nebula in both color and structure but the central star can be quite difficult to observe visually. At the center of NGC 1535, there is an O-type star with a spectral type of O(H)5.
NGC1491: From Wikipedia: NGC 1491, also known as LBN 794 or SH2-206, is an emission type bright nebula located about 9,800 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Perseus. The nebula gets its deep red coloration due to many massive stars (such as BD+50 866) embedded within NGC 1491 producing large amounts of ultraviolet radiation and ionizing the hydrogen gas that makes up the nebula.
SkySafari observing list
CN Dec23.skylist 2.23KB
33 downloads
Enjoy & Clear Skies!
Edited by Cey42, 02 December 2023 - 02:57 PM.