| Version 18 (modified by , 17 years ago) ( diff ) |
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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 6-11pm 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.
Other Resources:
- Planetary locations for this week here.
- Rise and set times for the Sun and the Moon here.
- Lunar phase calendar here or here.
- Map of night sky for NYC latitude this month at 9-10pm here.
- Google maps interface for the sky!
- ISS & other satellite tracking, also iridium flare predictions here
| Month | Object | Type | Brightness | Size | Telescope Suggested | Notes | Links | |||||||
| January | Orion Nebula (M 42) | emission nebula | ||||||||||||
| Pleiades (M 45) | open cluster | |||||||||||||
| M 35 | open cluster | 5.3 | 28' | |||||||||||
| M 36 | open cluster | 6.3 | 12' | |||||||||||
| M 37 | open cluster | 6.2 | 24' | |||||||||||
| M 38 | open cluster | 7.4 | 21' | |||||||||||
| M 52 | open cluster | 7.3 | 13' | |||||||||||
| Double Cluster (NGC 869 + 884) | Open Cluster | 4 mag | 60' | >=Binoculars | Two bright, resolved star clusters side by side. Needs a wide FOV. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Owl Cluster (NGC 457) | Open Cluster | 6 mag | 13' | >=10" | Star cluster shaped like a bird with outstretched wings, with two bright stars for eyes. Nice with 12" dob. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Spiral galaxy (Sb) | 3.4 mag | 178'x63' | >= 8" | Can only see core in telescope, appears as faint, white cloud. | 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 contrast double star in the sky, even superior to Albireo. The pair is 350 light years distant. The secondary itself is an unresolvable triple star system. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| February | Orion Nebula (M 42) | emission nebula | 1 | |||||||||||
| Pleiades (M 45) | open cluster | 1 | ||||||||||||
| M 35 | open cluster | 5.3 | 28' | 1 | ||||||||||
| M 36 | open cluster | 6.3 | 12' | 1 | ||||||||||
| M 37 | open cluster | 6.2 | 24' | 1 | ||||||||||
| M 38 | open cluster | 7.4 | 21' | 1 | ||||||||||
| Double Cluster (NGC 869 + 884) | Open Cluster | 4 mag | 60' | >=Binoculars | Two bright, resolved star clusters side by side. Needs a wide FOV. | 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 | |||||||||
| March | ||||||||||||||
| April | 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." | 1 2 3 4 5 | |||||||
| Beehive Cluster (M44) | open star cluster | 3.7 | 95' | >= binoculars | ~100 stars fully resolved in a small telescope. 600 lyr away, 700 Myr old | 1 | ||||||||
| Mizar & Alcor | Binary Star | 2.2 mag | 11.8' apart | >=Binoculars | Bright double star, easy to find in big dipper. | |||||||||
| M37 | open cluster | 6.2 | 24' | >= 6" | ~100 stars visible in a small telescope. 4 klyr away, 300 Myr old | 1 | ||||||||
| M35 | open cluster | 5.3 | 28' | >= 6" | ~100 stars visible in a small telescope. 3 klyr away, 100 Myr old | 1 | ||||||||
| 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. | 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. | 1 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." | 1 2 3 4 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. | 1 | |||||||
| Albireo | Binary Star | 3.1 mag | 35" apart | >=Binoculars | High constrast binary with one star red, one star blue. | 1 | ||||||||
| Hercules Cluster (M13) | Globular Cluster | 5.8 mag | 20'x20' | >= 8" | Appears as a faint white cloud, can see stars in it. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Ring Nebula (M57) | Planetary Nebula | 8.8 mag | 1.4'x1.0' | >= 8" | Appears as a faintly colored ring, small. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Spiral galaxy (Sb) | 3.4 mag | 178'x63' | >= 8" | Can only see core in telescope, appears as faint, white cloud. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| M92 | Globular Cluster | 6.4 mag | 14'x14' | Unconfirmed | 1 2 | |||||||||
| M3 | Globular Cluster | 6.2 mag | 18'x18' | Unconfirmed | 1 2 | |||||||||
| M5 | Globular Cluster | 5.6 mag | 23'x23' | Unconfirmed | 1 2 | |||||||||
| M10 | Globular Cluster | 6.6 mag | 20'x20' | Unconfirmed | 1 2 | |||||||||
| M12 | Globular Cluster | 6.7 mag | 16'x16' | Unconfirmed | 1 2 | |||||||||
| Dumbell Nebula (M27) | Planetary Nebula | 7.4 mag | 8'x5.7' | Unconfirmed | This may be too diffuse for us to see on the roof. Check? | 1 2 | ||||||||
| M39 | Open Cluster | 4.6 mag | 32'x32' | Unconfirmed | 1 2 | |||||||||
| August | ||||||||||||||
| September | Albireo | Binary Star | 3.1 mag | 35" apart | >=Binoculars | High constrast binary with one star red, one star blue. | 1 | |||||||
| Hercules Cluster (M13) | Globular Cluster | 5.8 mag | 20'x20' | >= 6" | Appears as a faint white cloud, can see stars in it. View improves dramatically with larger aperture. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Ring Nebula (M57) | Planetary Nebula | 8.8 mag | 1.4'x1.0' | >= 6" | Appears as a faintly colored ring, small. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Double Cluster (NGC 869 + 884) | Open Cluster | 4 mag | 60' | >=Binoculars | Two bright, resolved star clusters side by side. Needs a wide FOV. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Spiral galaxy (Sb) | 3.4 mag | 178'x63' | >= 8" | Can only see core in telescope, appears as faint, white cloud. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| Owl Cluster (NGC 457) | Open Cluster | 6 mag | 13' | >=10" | Star cluster shaped like a bird with outstretched wings, with two bright stars for eyes. Nice with 12" dob. | 1 2 | ||||||||
| October | ||||||||||||||
| November | ||||||||||||||
| December | ||||||||||||||
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for help on using the wiki.
