The Deep-Sky Observer’s Year: A Guide to Observing Deep-Sky Objects Throughout the Year (The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series)

253 Pages·22.876 MB·English

by  Paul Parsons

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 repro
duced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the
prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of repro
graphic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued
by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduc
tion 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 there
fore 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 experi
ence 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 Contents
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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 .9 . .
Open Clusters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Supernova Remnants ................. 82
Active Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. 4. . . .
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 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 Contents
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