Show #37: The Horsehead Nebula and Messier Marathons
14 Mar 2007, 17:17 UTC
Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!Image credit:copyright 2006 by Dr. Walter Koprolin (astro.nightsky.at)
ALDEBARAN AT DUSK
Thou art the star for which all evening
waits--O star of peace,come tenderly and soon,Nor heed the drowsy and
enchanted moon,Who dreams in silver at the eastern gatesEre yet she brim
with light the blue estatesAbandoned by the eagles of the noon.But shine
thou swiftly on the darkling duneAnd woodlands where the twilight hesitates.
Above that wide and ruby lake to-West,Wherein the sunset waits
reluctantly,Stir silently the purple wings of Night.She stands afar,
upholding to her breast,As mighty murmurs reach her from the sea,Thy
lone and everlasting rose of light.
George Sterling, 1911
Horsehead Nebula -B33Image credit:sadly I can't remember who's drawing this is!
If it is yours please email me so I can give you due credit. The annotations are
mine.
Here is the long windbag version of how I find B33!
If you have a smaller scope (8") wait until the belt of Orion is as high as
it gets or in the darkest part of the sky for your area. Seeing conditions have
more to do with success than just about anything else (IMHO). Half of the time I
am parked right on it and can't see it at all which can be both frustrating and
tantalizing at the same time...so close and yet....
Start off on the eastern most star in Orion's belt, Alnitak or zeta Ori, move
the scope east and look for the Flame Nebula, NGC 2024 Keep moving east and
slide Alnitak out of the field of view, now if you can see the Flame nebula
chance are that you will be able to see the Horsehead nebula. If you can't see
the Flame then see if you can find a bigger scope or darker skies. If you don't
see it at first step away close your eyes and let them re-dark adapt after
looking at bright Alnitak. (These days I don't start at Alnitak but just to the
west of her...)
Starting at Alnitak inch south to two relatively bright stars, the first one
fainter, the second one brighter, 7th mag labeled "A" on the picture This is the
higher-contrast, eastern edge of IC 434 the bright 'river' of nebulosity
streaming south from Alnitak. East of the second star there is another star
surrounded by not-so-faint nebulosity designated NGC 2023 start getting ready
for looooooow contrast.
Drawing an imaginary line from NGC 2023 to the 7th magnitude star, and
extending it across IC 434, you will find another two relatively bright stars
(the northern one brighter "B", the southern one fainter) not quite aligned with
the eastern edge of IC 434. Exactly there, at the eastern edge of IC 434, B33 is
located. Make an equilateral triangle with "A" and "B" and the imaginary 3rd
point to the south and just inside the imaginary 3rd point is B33.
To see it, use averted vision and keep the eye steady by fixing one of the
stars. If the conditions are excellent and you get a little experience in
observing B33, you can even detect the Horsehead shape. Experiment with power
and filters but don't give up! If you don't get it then try again another
night...you are probably right on top of it!
My mistake each time is to look for something small and contrasty...you need
to look for a larger, dark mass protruding (east to west) into IC 434 with
optically very little contrast except with a large scope and darker skies (and
maybe a little filtering). I can usually make out the flat top and the bulge of
the head but not the snout...not on the 8".
Stellarium
We recently had our Student Program learn to write scripts in Stellarium (with a lot of help from one of our
super-parents, Bob!) for their annual public night presentation on the
"Constellations". If you haven't played with Stellarium scripts it is a lot of
fun and somewhat addicting. You will end up spending a lot more time than you
think!
Stellarium
zip file
Messier_aff.sts -This is one that I wrote (I'm a beginner too!)for our "Get
ready for the Messier Marathon" meeting. It goes through an alternate selection
of the viewing order, at least the beginning is different. The beginning of the
file runs while we talk about what you need for the marathon. Press "K" to
advance from object to object (M40 is missing from Stellarium) at each title
break it will spin to the next object by itself and then you can continue to
advance as you wish. REMEMBER! This was programmed in a hurry and I haven't had
a chance to work with it since. But I will get it cleaned up soon.
You will want to comment out the landscape or if you want to see what it is
like to view from our observing hill at the college then go to the TAS website and download our landscape files.
Follow the directions included in the file to add the TAS Ft. Steilacoom
landscape to your Stellarium.
Messier MarathonThe ultimate Messier Marathon site...SEDS!As
far as the order you use there are several lists on the above site but I like
the logic behind Tom Polakis'
order.
Southern Hemisphere-September would be a good time for a marathon of
"Bennett
List" and "Best Sky
Objects from SAAO latitude"
Sunsunspots
Listener FeedbackCloudy
Nights Telescope Review
Quick News
New Horizons - This dramatic image of Io was taken by the Long Range
Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on New Horizons at 11:04 Universal Time on
February 28, 2007, just about 5 hours after the spacecraft's closest approach to
Jupiter. The distance to Io was 2.5 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) and
the image is centered at 85 degrees west longitude. At this distance, one LORRI
pixel subtends 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) on Io.
Time again for the Globe at Night program!
Planets Evening Planets
Venus - Mag -3.9 moving from Pisces to Aries absolutely wonderful. The only
thing shining through the cloud cover here in the Pacific NW.
Saturn - Mag 0.0 on the western edge of Leo just now north-west of Regulus
between the curve of the question mark and Regulus. Nice and high in the early
evening!
Morning Planets
Jupiter - Mag -2.1 in southern Ophiuchus in the south before dawn to the
southwest is Antares.
Mars - Mag 1.2 in Capricorn just above the Sun's glare in the southeast
Mercury - Mag 0.5 in Aquarius very low at dawn between Mars and the horizon
Lost in the Sun's glare
Neptune and Uranus, NGC 2174 and 2175IC 418
planetary nebula in Lepus nicknamed the Raspberry Nebula at 9.6 mag in a smaller
scope it doesn't appear to have the red color large scope can claim, slightly
bluish (bottom of map 104).
Viewing challenges:
NGC 404 just off of beta
Andromeda 10.2 mag galaxy, interesting and tough with beta so bright.NGC 613 10.1mag in Sculptor
(map 108) you need a lot of mirror for this one. Galaxy with a very long
'core'.NGC 2185 in
Monoceros a pair of nebula the eastern one looks like a tulip.
Comets
Comets for the
Month.Check out the Sky Hound site. "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"-- Shakespeare
Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at
www.astronomy.libsyn.comHelp us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal
hat
MusicCeltic Stone's
"Drowsy Maggie" (should we re-name it drowsy Alice after this weekend!)Ariaphonic's
Sposa son disprezzata
Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering FREE web hosting on our
servers for you or your organization's website. In order to promote the hobbies
of Astronomy, Astrophotography, Photography, Birding or generally any topic that
is of interest to our customer base, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is
offering Hosting Grants.
