December Targets

These are deep sky targets seen from Caltech 8-10PM Local in December.

Object	Alternative Names	Type	Brightness	Surface Brightness	Size	Suggested Telescope/Eyepiece	Notes	Links for More Information
Pleiades	M45, Subaru	open cluster	1.6	11.1	110'	>= 8" with 32mm+ eyepiece	100 Myr-old star cluster, 440 lyr away, containing ~500 members total.	Astropixels SEDS Wikipedia
Orion Nebula	M42	emission nebula	4.0	13.1	85' x 60'	>= 8" with 32mm+ eyepiece	Bright emission nebula inside the nearest star-forming region. The four 1 Myr-old "Trapezium" stars at the heart are responsible for ionizing the surrounding gas and making it glow. 1.3 klyr away.	Astropixels SEDS Wikipedia
Double Cluster	NGC869 + NGC884 Caldwell 14	Open Cluster	3.8	10.9	60'	>= 10"	Two bright, resolved star clusters side by side. Need wide FOV. Both are young clusters, 7 klyr away, ~14 Myr old, containing luminous B stars	Astropixels SEDS Wikipedia
Owl Cluster	NGC457, Dragonfly Cluster, ET Cluster	Open Cluster	6.4	12.6	13'	>= 8"	10 klyr distant cluster shaped like a bird with wings, with two bright stars for eyes. Brightest of "eyes" is foreground star, dimmer is a cluster member	Starchart Wikipedia
Andromeda Galaxy	M31	Spiral galaxy	3.4	13.4	178'x63'	>= 10"	Can only see core in telescope, appears as faint, white cloud. 2.5 Mlyr distant. Similar in mass and luminosity to Milky Way. Moving toward us at 70miles/s; Collision expected in 2.5 Gyr	Astropixels SEDS Wikipedia
Christmas Tree Cluster	NGC2264, Cone Nebula	Open Cluster	3.9	8.25	20'	>= 8"	Young star cluster embedded in faint emission nebula; 2.6 klyr away, ~3 Myr old; brightest member is a binary O star	SEDS Wikipedia
Almach	Gamma Andromedae	Double Star	2.3 and 5.1	-	10" apart	>= 6"	Often considered the most beautiful high color contrast double star visible. 350 lyrs away. Redder and brighter star is a K giant, secondary star is itself an unresolved triple star system with A and B dwarfs.	Wikipedia

Topic revision: r1 - 2016-07-04 - OutreachAdmin