Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size C63 (NGC 7293) Planetary Nebula 22h 29m 39s -20° 50′ 15″ Aquarius 7.6 15×12 arcmins Overview An astronomer called Karl Ludwig Harding is the first to have published his sighting of this nebula over 200 years ago in 1824. This is the closest, at 655 light-years distant, […]
Challenge #1 – C63, The Helix Nebula in Aquarius Read More »
Target Type R.A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size C55 (NGC 7009) Planetary Nebula 21h 04m 11s -11° 21′ 57″ Aquarius 7.8 0.5×0.4 arcmin Overview William Herschel discovered this nebula in September 1782. He thought it was a planetary disc, which is why this kind of nebula is today known as a planetary nebula… despite having nothing
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Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size M72 (NGC 6981) Globular Cluster 20h 53m 28s -12° 32′ 14″ Aquarius +9.8 6.6 arcmin Overview The 72nd entry in Messier’s catalog is the faintest of all the globular clusters listed. Just six arcminutes wide and shining fainter than magnitude 9, this is an easy object to
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Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size M73 (NGC 6994) Asterism 20h 58m 55s -12° 38′ 00″ Aquarius +8.9 9.0 arcmin Overview There are not many objects in the Messier catalog that probably shouldn’t be in it, but M73 is one of them. Charles Messier discovered what he believed to be a cluster in
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Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size M2 Globular Cluster 21h 33m 27s -00° 49′ 24″ Aquarius +6.5 16.0 arcmins Overview Our first challenge this month is to find the second object in Charles Messier’s catalog. Although he discovered it independently, he wasn’t the first astronomer to point a telescope in its direction. Jean-Dominique
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Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size M2 Globular Cluster 21h 33m 27s -00° 49′ 24″ Aquarius +6.5 16.0 arcmins Overview Our first challenge this month is to find the second object in Charles Messier’s catalog. Although he discovered it independently, he wasn’t the first astronomer to point a telescope in its direction. Jean-Dominique
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Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size M2 Globular Cluster 21h 33m 27s -00° 49′ 24″ Aquarius +6.5 16.0 arcmins Overview Our first challenge this month is to find the second object in Charles Messier’s catalog. Although he discovered it independently, he wasn’t the first astronomer to point a telescope in its direction. Jean-Dominique
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Target Type R. A. Dec. Constellation Magnitude Size M2 (NGC 7089) Globular Cluster 21h 33m 27s -00° 49′ 24″ Aquarius +6.5 16.0 arcmins Overview Our first challenge this month is to find the second object in Charles Messier’s catalog. Although he discovered it independently, he wasn’t the first astronomer to point a telescope in its
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