The Night Sky - A Monthly Field Guide of the Best of the Night Sky

A Monthly Guide Of The Best Of The Night Sky

By Benjamin Booker

Orion Monoceros Carina Leo Coma Berenices Circinus Serpens Sagittarius Cygnus Aquarius Cassiopia Triangulum

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Official Name: Orionis Common Name: Orion Translation: The Hunter

Orion, son of the god of the sea Posiedon, the hunter of Taurus the bull, and Lepus the hare who was followed faithfully by his canine companions Canis Major, and Canis Minor. In love with Metrope, the daughter of King Oenopion of Chios, Orion was consistently denied her. His love for her raged, and while in a drunken stupor he attacked Metrope. Oenopion found revenge by cursing Orion with blindness. Orion sought the help of an Oracle to regain his sight. The Oracle told him that to gain his sight he would need to travel east, and look into the sun. Orion did this, regained his sight through the power of the god Helios. Orion's death came about when Apollo challenged Artemis to hit a speck among the waters of the ocean with her Arrow, not knowing that this speck was Orion swimming.

Artemis shot a single arrow killing him.

Artemis asked Zeus to place Orion, along with his companions in the sky, near the seven daughters of Oenopion, the Pleiades. Here they remained as the mightiest hunters of the night sky.

The earliest known depiction of Orion was from a 38,000 year old mammoth tusk carving found in a cave in West Germany in 1979.

The ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, and even the Bible all reference Orion as early as 2800bc.

The current boundaries of Orion were made in 1930 by Eugene Delporte, and consist of 26 sides.

Orion covers 594sq degrees of sky.

Orion as we know it comes from the Greek for the Hunter and the myth.

From the Northern Hemisphere, looking directly south at 9pm, you will see Orion.

Look for the notable belt of three bright stars.

M42 – Orion Nebula A large diffuse nebula located 1344 light years away from Earth. Located in the “sword” of Orion. Can see with naked eye and binoculars.

Horsehead Nebula A dark nebula located in the belt of Orion. 1500 light years distant. Seen only with very large telescopes or photographically.

Credit: David Trowbridge

Credit: http://www.starrywonders.com/horseheadcomposite.jpg

• Photo of Orion's belt and sword.

Credit: Marian McGaffney

http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Orion/orion.html http://www.gatewaytotheuniverse.org/orion.html http://earthsky.org/space/orion-nebula-jewel-in-orions-sword https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)

Official Name: Monoceros Common Name: Monoceros Translation: Greek for “The Unicorn�

Myths: No myths associated Charted by Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius in around 1612.

Looking very low in the South East, below Gemini and to the left of Orion. Monoceros is very dim, and difficult to see near cities.

Located on the celestial equator, It is bordered

by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Minor to the east.

The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237) is located in Monoceros. It is one of my personal favorite nebulas as is has significant depth and structure due to its composition of hydrogen alpha, oxygen 3, and bok globule regions.

M50 open cluster.

Cone nebula which is composed of narrow jets of gas and proto stars called Herbig-Haro objects.

Rosette Nebula

Cone Nebula

M 50 Open Cluster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoceros http://bf-astro.com/ngc2237nb.htm http://www.constellation-guide.com/cone-nebula/ http://www.alexastro.com/alex%20home%20page/deepspace/deepspaceind ex.html

Official Name: Carina Common Name: Carina Translation: Latin for “keel of the ship”

Myths: Carina was once part of the Argo Navis constellation; the ship from the Greek myth Jason and the Argonauts.

The Argo Navis constellation was divided into three, the others being Puppis and Vela.

Discovery: Originally the Argo Navis was an ancient designated constellation.

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided the Argo into three constellations in 1763, thus creating the Carina.

Carina is a southern hemisphere (SQ2) constellation, not visible from Alaska. Visible from as latitudes of up to +20° North latitude.

Occupies 494 square degrees, making it the 34th largest constellation.

Carina Nebula NGC 3372 – Extremely large nebula; four times the size of Orion nebula. Located 6,500 to 10,000 light years away.

Homunculus Nebula Eta Carina – Nebula surrounding the binary star of Eta Carina formed in a great eruption observed by astronomers from 1827 to 1845 when it became one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

“The Bullet Galaxy Cluster” 1E 0657-56 – 3.7 billion light years distant. Collision of two galaxy clusters of 70 million and 100 million degree celsius gasses at speeds of 6 million miles per hour. One of the most energetic event known besides the big bang.

Star WR25 – Brightest star in the Milky Way Galaxy at 6.3 million times the brightness of our Sun.

Carina Nebula – NGC 3372

Homunculus Nebula Eta Carina

“The Bullet Galaxy Cluster” – 1E 0657-56 Star WR 25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina_(constellation) http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/carina-constellation/ https://ianavilches.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/carina-constellation/ http://www.heavensabove.com/myth.aspx?con=car&lat=0&lng=0&loc=B&alt=0&tz=CET https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131015.html https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060824.html

Official Name: Leonis Common Name: Leo Translation: Latin for Lion

Myths: Leo is one of the oldest recognized constellations dating back as far as 4000 BCE. It has been called the Lion by the Persians, Turks, Syrians, Jews, Indians, and Greeks. The Lion as we know it today comes from the Greek Mythology of the Nemean Lion which was killed by Heracles.

Discovery: One of the original 48 constellations described by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, it remains one of the most identifiable constellations today.

Leo is located low in the Eastern sky near the horizon at 11° RA and +15° DEC Leo occupies 947 square degrees, making it the 12th largest constellation.

Leo Triplet of M66, M65 and NGC3628– Three galaxies located about 35 million light years away.

Huge-LQG – The 2nd largest and most massive structure in the universe, composed of 73 quasars, which are super massive black holes fed by galactic nuclei. It is 3.9 billion light years across, and with a mass of over 6 quintillion of our suns, or about 6 million times the mass of our whole galaxy!

Leonid meteor shower – Annual meteor shower which peaks November 14-15.

Leo Triplet of M66, M65 and NGC3628

Leonid meteor shower

Huge-LQG (Photo of Quasar 3C 273 and Map of Huge-LQG)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_(constellation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huge-LQG http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/article00818.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus http://www.space.com/34500-leonid-meteor-showerguide.html

Official Name: Coma Berenices Common Name: Coma Berenices Translation: Berenices Hair An asterism

Myths: There are no myths, however Coma Berenices is the only constellation to be named for a historical figure: Berenice II, the consort of Ptolemy III. Berenice vowed to sacrifice her hair to Aphrodite as thanks for returning Ptolemy from the Third Syrian War.

Coma Berenices is located about halfway up the horizon to the East.

Coma Berenices occupies 386 square degrees, making it the 42nd largest constellation.

Messier 64 – Black Eye Galaxy NGC 4565 – Needle Galaxy NCG 4651 – Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenicids meteor shower around January 18

Messier 64

NGC 4651

NGC 4565

Official Name: Circinus Common Name: Circinus Translation: Latin for Compass

Myths: There are no myths associated with Circinus.

Discovery: First defined in 1756 by Nicoulas-Louis de Lacaille, he named it after the drafting compass.

Circinus is located high in the Southern sky, and cannot be viewed from the Northern Hemisphere.

Circinus occupies 93 square degrees, making it the 85th largest constellation.

Open cluster NGC 5823 Planetary Nebula NGC 5315 ESO 97-G13 Circinus Galaxy

Open cluster NGC 5823

Planetary Nebula NGC 5315

ESO 97-G13 Circinus Galaxy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circinus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_5315 http://www.topastronomer.com/StarCharts/Co nstellations/Circinus.php

Official Name: Serpens Common Name: Serpens Translation: Greek for Snake (caput Latin for head, and cauda Latin for tail)

Myths: Greek mythology tells of Serpens the great snake which is held by Ophiuchus.

Discovery: Established formal boundaries depicting the head and the tail of Serpens separately

by Eugene Delporte in 1920.

Serpens is located low toward the horizion at SSE. Serpens occupies 637 square degrees, making it the 23rd largest constellation.

Serpens is also split into two parts; Serpens Caput (the head) and Serpens Cauda (the tail).

Messier 5 – Globular Cluster which can been seen with the naked eye from dark skies.

Hoag’s Object – Rare Circular Galaxy which is about 600 million light years away. It is rare due to is structure of younger stars at the circumference, and older stars towards the core.

Pillars of Creation in Eagle Nebula – A tail object of note, as the Hubble image is one of the most well known and beautiful images produced by the Hubble telescope. Large pillars of dust and gases makeup this stellar nursery.

Messier 5 – Globular Cluster

Hoag’s Object – Rare Circular Galaxy

Pillars of Creation in Eagle Nebula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoag%27s_Object

Official Name: Sagittarius Common Name: Sagittarius Translation: Latin for Archer

Myths: Greek mythology tells of the half human-half horse centaur Chiron, the tutor to Jason, and guide for the Argonauts on the search for the Golden Fleece Discovery: One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century

Sagittarius is located low toward the horizon in the south, however it is not easily visible from Alaska latitudes.

Sagittarius occupies 867 square degrees, making it the 15th largest constellation.

Messier 8 Lagoon Nebula – Large nebula about 5,000 light years from Earth.

Omega Nebula – Large nebula about 4890 light years from Earth, also known as the “Swan” Messier 20 Trifid Nebula – An emission and reflection nebula.

Messier 8 – Lagoon Nebula

Messier 20 – Trifid Nebula

Omega Nebula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_(constellation) http://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/trifid-nebula-asummer-milky-way-treasure http://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/the-lagoonnebula-messier-8 http://www.crystalinks.com/sagittarius.html

Official Name: Cygnus Common Name: Cygnus and asterism the Northern Cross Translation: Latinized Greek word for Swan

Myths: Greek mythology tells the story of Phaethon, the son of Helios the sun god. Phaethon crashed his fathers chariot into the river Eridanus and died. His brother Cycnus grieved and dove into the river collecting Phaethons bones to honor him. The gods were so touched by this, that they honored him by turning him into a swan, and placed him in the stars.

Discovery: One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century

Cygnus is located low toward the horizon in the north.

Cygnus occupies 804 square degrees, making it the 16th largest constellation.

Veil Nebula – Huge supernova remnant about 50 light years across, and about 1,470 light years distant. It is about 36 times the size of the full moon.

Crescent Nebula – Emission nebula about 5,000 light years distant.

North American Nebula – About 1,600 light years distant, this emission nebula is large but faint, at about four times the size of the full moon.

Veil Nebula

Crescent Nebula

North American Nebula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(constellation)

Official Name: Aquarius Common Name: Aquarius Translation: Latin for water carrier

Myths: Babylonians called the constellation Gu.La “The Great One� representing the Ea. Greek mythology portrays Aquarius as Ganymede, the son of the Trojan king Tros, who was taken to Mt. Olympus by Zeus to act as a cater carrier to the gods.

Discovery: One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century

Aquarius is located low toward the horizon in the south and west.

Aquarius occupies 980 square degrees, making it the 10th largest constellation.

Two exoplanet systems of Gliese 876, and HD 215152.

Messier 2 – Globular cluster about 37,500 light years away.

Messier 72- Globular cluster about 55,000 light years away.

Messier 73- Asterism of four stars located 2,500 light years away.

Saturn Nebula – Planetary nebula formed by low mass star ejecting its outer layers, located about 5,000 light years away.

Helix Nebula – Planetary nebula formed by low mass star ejecting its outer layers, located about 700 light years away.

Messier 2

Saturn Nebula

Messier 72

Messier 73

Helix Nebula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarius_(constellation)

Official Name: Cassiopeia Common Name: Cassiopeia Translation: The vain queen.

Myths: Cassiopeia was the queen of Aethiopia and mother of Princess Andromeda. Cassiopeia considered herself and her daughter to more beautiful than the Nereids; daughters of Poseidon. This enraged Poseidon, and so he forced her into the heavens to be forced to circle around the North Celestial Pole forever as punishment.

Discovery: One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century

Cassiopeia is located halfway up the sky to the North West.

Cassiopeia occupies 598 square degrees, making it the 25th largest constellation.

The Heart Nebula IC 1805 – Emission nebula about 7,500 light years distant.

Messier 52 – Open cluster between 3,000 and 7,0000 light years away.

IC10 – Irregular Galaxy about 2.2 million light years away.

Cassiopeia A – Supernova remnant observed on Earth 300 years ago, is the strongest radio source observable outside the solar system.

Heart Nebula – IC 1805

Messier 52

Cassiopeia A IC 10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarius_(constellation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_52 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Nebula

Official Name: Triangulum Common Name: Triangulum Translation: Latin for “triangle�

History: Triangulum was on of the original constellations, and recognized by the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. The Greeks called it Deltoton due to its resemblance to the Greek letter delta. The Babylonians called it and Gamma Andromedae the plow. The Romans associated it with Sicily the island.

Discovery: One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century

Triangulum is located halfway up the sky to the in the West.

Triangulum occupies 132 square degrees, making it the 78th largest constellation.

M33 – Triangulum Galaxy NGC 604 – Giant H II nebula inside M33 – 40 times the size of Orion nebula and 6,300 times as luminous NGC 949 – Irregular galaxy 30 million light years distant

M33 – Triangulum Galaxy

NGC 949

NGC 604

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulum https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1518a/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_604 https://bestdoubles.wordpress.com/category/4-choose-aconstellation/triangulum/