Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy series

Springer-Verlag London Ltd.

Other titles in this series

The Observational Amateur Astronomer Patrick Moore (Ed.)

Telescopes and Techniques Chris Kitchin

The Art and Science of CCD Astronomy David Ratledge (Ed.)

The Observer's Year Patrick Moore

Seeing Stars Chris Kitchin and Robert W. Forrest

Photo-guide to the Constellations Chris Kitchin

The Sun in Eclipse Michael Maunder and Patrick Moore

Software and Data for Practical Astronomers David Ratledge

Amateur Telescope Making Stephen F. Tonkin (Ed.)

Observing Meteors, Comets, Supernovae and other Transient Phenomena Neil Bone

Astronomical Equipment for Amateurs Martin Mobberley

Transit: When Planets Cross the Sun Michael Maunder and Patrick Moore

Practical Astrophotography Jeffrey R. Charles

Observing the Moon Peter Wlasuk

Deep-Sky Observing: The Astronomical Tourist Steven R. Coe

AstroFAQs Stephen F. Tonkin

The Deep-Sky Observer's Year

A Guide to Observing Deep-Sky Objects Throughout the Year

Grant Privett and Paul Parsons

With 171 Figures

Springer

Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series ISSN 1431-9756 ISBN 978-1-85233-273-0

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Privett, Grant

The deep-sky observer's year: a guide to observing deep-sky objects throughout the year. - (Patrick Moore's practical astronomy series) 1.Astronomy - Observer's manuals I. Title Il.Parsons, Paul 522

ISBN 978-1-85233-273-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Privett, Grant, 1957-

The deep-sky observer's year : a guide to observing deep-sky objects throughout the year / Grant Privett and Paul Parsons,

p. cm. - (Patrick Moore's practical astronomy series)

ISBN 978-1-85233-273-0 ISBN 978-1-4471-0245-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-0245-8 II. Title. III. Practical astronomy. QB63.P62 2000 523-dc21 00-044028

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be repro­duced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of repro­graphic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduc­tion outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

© Springer-Verlag London 2001 Originally published by Springer-Verlag London Limited in 2001

The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant laws and regulations and there­fore free for general use.

The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Observing the Sun, along with a few other aspects of astronomy, can be dangerous. Neither the publisher nor the author accepts any legal responsibility or liability for personal loss or injury caused, or alleged to have been caused, by any information or recommendation contained in this book.

Typeset by EXPO Holdings, Malaysia

58/3830-543210 Printed on acid-free paper SPIN 10755576

Acknowledgements

GJP would like to thank his father, Peter Privett, for buying the 60 mm refractor in 1970 and his wife Rachel Privett for putting up with the late nights and cold feet.

PP would like to thank his local publican that this book is finally finished. He would also like to thank Dominique for helping him emerge from the experi­ence approximately sane.

In addition, both authors would like to thank the many people who so kindly allowed us to use their drawings, photographs and CCD images. They are too numerous to mention here individually, but we remain very grateful. Their names appear in the "About the Photo Contributors" section where you can find URLs for some great web pages.

We would also like to thank Nick Thompson and Chris Marriott for permission to use the finder charts we generated using SkyMap 3.

Finally, we would like to extend special thanks to Owen Brazell, Laurence Hall and Gavin Stacey for kindly reading various early drafts of the book and providing many useful comments.

v

Contents

Part I Preparing for Deep-Sky Observing

1 Introduction...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Deep-Sky Observing .................... 7 Binoculars .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

What Do You Need? ................ 7 U sing Binoculars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 What Can You Observe with Binoculars? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Telescopes........................... 11 Types............................. 12 Mounts........................... 14 Computer-Controlled Mounts ....... 20 Tube Assemblies ................... 23 Eyepieces ......................... 26 Filters ............................ 27 Observatories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

What Can You Observe with a Telescope? 31 Aperture 50-100 mm ............... 31 Aperture 150-300 mm .............. 32 Aperture 300-450 mm .............. 32 What Can You Photograph? ......... 32 What Can You Image with a CCD? . . . . 33

Observing Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Visual ............................ 34 Drawing .......................... 37 Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Films............................. 40 Processing and Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Improving Films ................... 42 Limitations of Photography. . . . . . . . . . 43 CCDs ............................. 43 The Limitations of CCDs ............ 45 Selecting a CCD .................... 46

3 Avoiding Common Mistakes ............. 49

viii

4 The Messier Marathon and Other Pursuits ............................... 55

Messier Marathon .................... 56 Supernovae Searches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Active Galactic Nuclei and Quasars ..... 59 Variable Nebulae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 List Observing ....................... 61 Star Parties .......................... 63

5 What Are We Looking At? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Nebulae............................. 65 Galaxies ....... . ............ . ........ 69 Galaxy Formation and Evolution ....... 73 Planetary Nebulae .................... 76 Globular Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Open Clusters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Supernova Remnants ................. 82 Active Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Faint Blue Galaxies ................... 86

6 Atlases and Other Resources ............. 89 Atlases.............................. 89

Atlases - List of Details ............. 91 Other Useful Books and Articles. . . . . . . . 92

Deep-Sky Objects .................. 92 Telescopes ........................ 93 General Observing Guides and Useful Articles ..................... 93 Imaging........................... 94

Computer-Based Systems.............. 94 Software .. . . . . . ...... . ............ 94 Web Sites ......................... 97 CD-ROMs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 101

Useful Contacts ...................... 102 Societies .......................... 103 Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 104

Part II The Night Sky Month by Month

7 The Star System and Nomenclature .. . .... 107

8 January - 08 Hours RA .................. 109 This Month .......................... 109 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 109

Gemini - Something for Everyone .... 110 The Lynx.......................... 113 Monoceros ........................ 114 Canis Major ....................... 116 Also Worth a Look ................. 119

Contents

Contents ix

9 February - 10 Hours RA ................. 121 This Month.......................... 121 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 121

The Bear Essentials ................. 121 Cancer............................ 127 The Lynx. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 128 Leo and Below ..................... 129 Also Worth a Look ................. 131

10 March -l2 Hours RA.................... 133 This Month .......................... 133 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 133

Leo............................... 133 Ursa Major ........................ 138 Coma Berenices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 140 The Antennae...................... 141 Also Worth a Look ................. 143

11 April- 14 Hours RA .. .. . . .. .. .. . . . . . . . .. 145 This Month .......................... 145 Compulsory Viewing. .. . . .. . . . .. .. .... 145

Virgo ............................. 145 Galaxies, Galaxies, Everywhere ....... 146 Into the Whirlpool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 150 Also Worth a Look ................. 153

12 May - 16 Hours RA ..................... 155 This Month.......................... 155 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 155

The Not-So-Barren North ........... 155 Serpens Caput ..................... 158 Virgo Again ....................... 159 Scorpius. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 162 Also Worth a Look ................. 164

13 June - 18 Hours RA ..................... 165 This Month.......................... 165 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 165

Globulars, Globulars, Everywhere. . . .. 165 The Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 170 Ophiuchus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 172 Also Worth a Look ................. 173

14 July - 20 Hours RA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. ... 175 This Month .......................... 175 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 175

Across the Summer Triangle. . . . . . . .. 175 The Dumbbell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 178 A Wonderful Sight.................. 182 Teapot Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 185 Also Worth a Look ................. 189

x

15 August - 22 Hours RA .. .. .. .. . . . . .. .. ... 191 This Month.......................... 191 Compulsory Viewing .................. 191

Ancient Stars ...................... 191 Equuleus - A Waste of Space? ........ 194 The Aquarius Nebulae .............. 196 Capricorn ......................... 199 Also Worth a Look ................. 201

16 September - 00/24 Hours RA ............. 203 This Month .......................... 203 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 203

Galaxies Abound ................... 203 A Change of Scenery . . .. .. .. .. . . .... 206 Cepheus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 207 Another Change of Scenery .......... 210 Lacerta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 211 Also Worth a Look ................. 212

17 October - 02 Hours RA .................. 213 This Month .......................... 213 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 213

One of Messier's Finest.............. 213 A Face-On Spiral................... 217 What, More Galaxies? ............... 218 The Queen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 221 A Seyfert Galaxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 223 Also Worth a Look ................. 224

18 November - 04 Hours RA ................ 225 This Month .......................... 225 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 225

Cassiopeia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 225 The Double Cluster ................. 226 Old Favourites ..................... 228 The Giraffe ........................ 231 The Crab Nebula ................... 231 Also Worth a Look ................. 234

19 December - 06 Hours RA ................ 235 This Month .......................... 235 Compulsory Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 235

So Much to See .................... 235 Into Orion ........................ 238 Something Different ................ 246 Turning to Taurus ................. 247 Also Worth a Look ................. 247

20 Postscript............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 249

About the Photo Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 251

Contents