Astro Nut » Constellations

Intro to Constellations

Russ — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:43:37 +0000

Here is a little presentation I have been working on
Have you ever wondered what a Constellation is?
Want to know where Constellations came from?

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by AstroNut

Andromeda Naked Eye

Russ — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:46:07 +0000

Andromeda Naked Eye
The The Andromeda Galaxy is one of my favorite objects in the night sky
it is also the most distant object you can see with your naked eyes, two million light years away.
M 31 the Andromeda Galaxy is very east to find once you know the landmarks.

To use Cassiopeia
Look for the W shape of Cassiopeia. With the two V shapes that make up the W, use the V shape on the right. Imagine the V as an arrow, pointing into the constellation Andromeda. The arrow of Cassiopeia does not point precisely to Andromeda: You will have to look a bit to the right to find the galaxy M31.

From Pegasus
Start by first findinf Alpheratz. Next calculate two bright stars to the left, and after that two fainter stars upwards. Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is right above the second fainter star
See the The full size picture for the charts

The full size picture

Objects in Sagittarius

Russ — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:53:01 +0000

Sagittarius will soon be making his appearance.
So I have put together my target list for the year.
I just hope the weather will be kind.

M 8 Bright Nebula – Lagoon Nebula is one of the finest and brightest star-forming regions in the sky
M 17 Bright Nebula – Omega, Swan, Horseshoe, or Lobster Nebula
M 18 Open Cluster – 20 members?
M 20 Bright Nebula – Trifid Nebula, Starforming Nebula
M 21 Open Cluster
M 22 Globular Cluster – one of the brightest and remarkable clusters in the sky
M 23 Open Cluster – 129 probable cluster members
M 24 Star Cloud
M 25 Open Cluster – one of the more remarkable open clusters in constellation Sagittarius
M 28 Globular Cluster
M 54 Globular Cluster
M 55 Globular Cluster
M 69 Globular Cluster
M 70 Globular Cluster
M 75 Globular Cluster – one of the apparently fainter globular clusters in Messier’s catalog
NGC 6440 Globular Cluster
NGC 6507 Open Cluster
NGC 6520 Open Cluster
NGC 6528 Globular Cluster
NGC 6544 Globular Cluster
NGC 6553 Globular Cluster
NGC 6568 Open Cluster
NGC 6595 Emission Nebula
NGC 6624 Globular Cluster
NGC 6645 Open Cluster
NGC 6716 Open Cluster – faint, small, diffuse patch of light
NGC 6723 Globular Cluster – a small, moderately bright globular cluster
NGC 6818 Planetary – Nebula Little Gem
NGC 6822 Galaxy (Barnard’s Galaxy)

SAGITTARIUS, The Archer, represents a centaur – half-man, half-horse, descended from Ixion, the man who dared to lust after Hera, wife of Zeus. Realizing Ixion’s intentions, Zeus sent a cloud, disguised as Hera, to trick him. The offspring of this union was Kentauros, who was shunned by gods and mankind alike. He moved to Thessaly and bred with the mares there, and so centaurs were born. Some, like Chiron, the wise and kindly centaur who befriended Hercules and who is represented by CENTAURUS, were considerate and friendly to men, but many were aggressive. SAGITTARIUS is one of the latter, a fierce hunter with his bow and arrow always aimed at Scorpius.

M22

Russ — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:23:02 +0000

Messier 22 (M22, NGC 6656) is one of the brightest and remarkable clusters in the sky and next to M13 this my favorite Globular Clusters. M 22 is also a great binoculars object!
At 10,400 light years, M22 is one of the nearer globular clusters. At this distance, its 32′ angular diameter, slightly larger than that of the Full Moon

This is 1 subs @ 8 sec
Scope Orion 120mm f/5.0
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition
processed with PhotoShop 6

M57 The Ring Nebula

Russ — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:57:45 +0000

M57 The Ring Nebula is one of my favorite deep sky object.
It BRIGHT for a planetary nebulae and its very easy to find!
I can see it in my little Celestron StarSeeker 80mm.
I was out in the HUT till the wee hours this morning and M57
cleared the trees so I had the chance to take this!

This is 1 subs @ 15 sec
Scope Starblast 4.5 imaging
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition (it comes with the SS II)
processed with PhoteShop 6

Finding M57 is pretty easy.
Find the constellation Lyra,
look for the diamond-shaped set of 4 stars just below Vega.
M57 is in between the bottom pair stars.

Here is a PDF star chat of Lyra

Ophiuchus Star Chart

Russ — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:17:38 +0000