March Targets

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

Object	Alternative Names	Type	Brightness	Surface Brightness	Size	Suggested Telescope/Eyepiece	Notes	Links for More Information
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
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
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
Alcor & Mizar	Horse and Rider, Handle of Big Dipper	Double Star	0.33	-	14" apart	>= 6"	Historically used by many cultures as a test of vision to identify the two stars separately; 85 lyr away.	Space.com Wikipedia

Topic revision: r1 - 2016-04-12 - OutreachAdmin