February Targets

These are deep sky targets seen from Caltech 7-10PM Local in February.

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
Beehive Cluster	M44	Open Cluster	3.1	12.1	90'	>= 10"	750 Myr old, 600 lyr 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 - 2016-04-12 - OutreachAdmin