January Targets

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

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.	X
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M 34 Open Cluster 6 mag 35' >= 6" intermediate aged star cluster (several hundred Myr old), 1.5 klyr away, 7 light years in diameter, 100 members in total (20 of which are easily seen in a small telescope) 1 2 M 36 open cluster 6.3 12' >= 6" about 60 stars, 25 Myr old, 4 klyr away, 15 lyr wide. 1 M 37 open cluster 6.2 24' >= 12" According to Burnham's, the finest of the three Messier objects in Auriga, but needs larger aperture to resolve. Prominent red giant member lends the description of a "ruby in a field of diamonds". ~100 stars visible in a small telescope. 4 klyr away, 25 lyr wide, 300 Myr old 1 M 38 open cluster 7.4 21' >= 8" 4 klyr away, 25 lyr wide, 200 Myr old. 1 NGC 2264 open cluster 3.9 20' >= 6" Christmas Tree Cluster, a splendid young star cluster embedded in an emission nebula (the latter impossible to see from NYC). 2.6 klyr away, ~3 Myr old. The brightest member is a binary type O star. 1 2 NGC 2244 open cluster 4.8 24' >= 6" An OB association inside the famous Rosette Nebula (which is unfortunately impossible to see from NYC), 5.2 klyr away, just a few Myr old 1 2 M 35 open cluster 5.3 28' >= 6" ~100 stars visible in a small telescope. 3 klyr away, 100 Myr old 1 M 52 Open Cluster 7 mag 13' >= 8" V-shaped salt+pepper star cluster, resolved in any telescope. 5 klyr distant, 35 Myr old 1 2 Double Cluster (NGC 869 + 884) Open Cluster 4 mag 60' binoculars or wide-field telescope Two bright, resolved star clusters side by side. Needs a wide FOV. Both are young clusters, 7 klyr away, ~14 Myr old, containing luminous B stars. 1 2 3 4 5 Owl Cluster (NGC 457) Open Cluster 6 mag 13' >= 6" 10 klyr distant star cluster shaped like a bird with outstretched wings, with two bright stars for eyes. Aka the "ET" cluster. Nice with 12" dob. The brightest of the "eyes" is actually foreground star, while the dimmer "eye" is a true member, a B supergiant 1 2 Andromeda Galaxy (M 31) Spiral galaxy (Sb) 3.4 mag 178'x63' >= 12" Can only see core in telescope, appears as faint, white cloud. 2.5 Mlyr distant. Less massive than the Milky Way, but slightly more luminous (more stars). Andromeda is moving towards the Milky Way at ~70 mi/s; collision expected to occur in ~2.5 Gyr. 1 2 Rigel (Beta Orionis) Blue supergiant and double star 0.1 and 6.7 mag 9.4" apart >= 6" Rigel is one of the brightest stars in the sky and most luminous stars in the galaxy at an impressive zero magnitude with a distance of somewhere between 700 and 900 light years means it has a luminosity in excess of 40000 times that of the Sun. Its visual binary companion is much fainter and difficult to see due to the primary's brightness. With a physical separation of roughly 2000 AU, no orbital motion has been detected, but they both exhibit similar proper motions trajectories. 1 2 Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) Red supergiant 0.2-1.5 naked eye 600 ly distant. Radius is 100 times that of Sun, and luminosity is 100,000 times that of the Sun. One of the largest stars known, and one of the first stars to be resolved by optical interferometers. Observations have revealed starspots and variable size. A core collapse supernova is imminent. 1 2 Almach (Gamma Andromedae) blue and gold double star 2.3 and 5.1 mag 10" apart >= binoculars Often considered the most beautiful high color contrast double star in the sky, even superior to Albireo. The pair is 350 light years distant. The redder and brighter one is a K giant, while the secondary itself is an unresolvable triple star system containing A and B dwarf stars.