Changes between Version 16 and Version 17 of Outreach/Observations

Timestamp:

05/15/09 13:16:59 (17 years ago)

Author:

neil@…

Comment:

--

Outreach/Observations

@@ -1 +1 @@
 = Observational Targets Visible from Columbia =
 
-These are targets that can be seen from New York skies with a 6"-16" telescope each month in the early evening (ie 6-10pm star-gazing periods).  This is a useful list for those people leading labs or preparing for star-gazing nights.  Please add to the list when you see something missing or confirm the unconfirmed targets!
+These are targets that can be seen from New York skies with a 6"-16" telescope each month in the early evening (ie 6-11pm star-gazing periods).  This is a useful list for those people leading labs or preparing for star-gazing nights.  Please add to the list when you see something missing or confirm the unconfirmed targets!
 
 Obviously planets and the Moon are perfect observational targets and are missing from this list because they don't track with the rest of the sky.
@@ -42 +42 @@
 || || || M37 || || open cluster || ||6.2|| || 24' || || >= 6"|| ||~100 stars visible in a small telescope. 4 klyr away, 300 Myr old|| ||[http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m037.html 1]||
 || || || M35 || || open cluster || ||5.3|| || 28' || || >= 6"|| ||~100 stars visible in a small telescope. 3 klyr away, 100 Myr old|| ||[http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m035.html 1]||
-||'''May'''|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
+||'''May'''|| || M3 || || globular cluster || || 6 mag || || 10' || || >= 6" || || One of the best globular clusters in the sky. Appears as fuzzy ball of stars, better resolved at edges. Contains a half million stars at a distance of 34 klyr. Half the mass is within a volume of diameter 22 lyr. [http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m003.html 1] ||
+|| || || Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) || || face-on spiral galaxy with interacting companion || || 8.4 mag || || 7' || || >=12" || || The nucleus may appear as a faint smudge. The "grand design" spiral structure (not visible from NYC) was induced by an encounter with the companion NGC 5195. Recent distance estimates place the galaxy at a distance of 23 +/- 4 Mlyr. [http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m051.html 1] [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?doi=10.1111%2Fj.1365-2966.2006.10974.x 2] ||
+|| || ||M81 + M82|| ||interacting galaxy pair|| ||7.9, 9.3|| ||37' separation|| ||>= 10"|| ||M81 appears as a fuzzy white spot; M82 is fainter and noticeably elongated. They are both 12 Mlyr away--the farthest you can see into space with a small telescope from NYC! Quoth the APOD: "The gravity from each galaxy dramatically affects the other during each hundred million-year pass. Last go-round, M82's gravity likely raised density waves rippling around M81, resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. But M81 left M82 with violent star forming regions and colliding gas clouds so energetic the galaxy glows in X-rays. In a few billion years only one galaxy will remain."|| ||[http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080325.html 1] [http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m081.html 2] [http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m082.html 3] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_81 4] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82 5]||
+|| || ||Mizar & Alcor|| ||Binary Star|| ||2.2 mag|| ||11.8' apart|| ||>=Binoculars|| ||Bright double star, easy to find in big dipper.||
 ||'''June'''|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
 ||'''July'''|| ||Mizar & Alcor|| ||Binary Star|| ||2.2 mag|| ||11.8' apart|| ||>=Binoculars|| ||Bright double star, easy to find in big dipper.|| ||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizar_(star) 1]||