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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Beehive Cluster | M44 | Open Cluster | 3.1 | 12.1 | 90' | >= 10" | 750 Myr old, 600 lyr away | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Edit | Attach | Topic revision: r1 - 2016-04-12 - OutreachAdmin
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