Eye on the Sky
Paul Curtin
We begin at the Little Dipper, hanging from
Polaris in the north. Cradling the Little Bear is Draco, a
string stretching west from Camelopardalis to Cepheus
and then south to Hercules. Draco contains some galaxies of
note along its
border with Ursa Major, but the most prominent deep sky object
is M101, a
galaxy halfway between Zeta Ursae Majoris (the middle star
in the handle
of the Big Dipper) and Kappa Bootis (the end of the Herdsman's
Pipe in H. A.
Rey's rendition of Bootes). M101 is a face-on spiral galaxy
that is truly
impressive in dark skies.
A similar galaxy can be found due south of
Zeta Ursae in Canes Venatici. This
is M51, the famed Whirlpool Galaxy. Cans Venatici and its
southern neighbor
Coma Berenices contain a wealth of galaxies in their western
and central
regions. Both also display interesting globular clusters.
M3 in Canes and M53
in Coma are often overlooked but are rich globulars that show
more detail in
small telescopes than any of the spring galaxies.
South of Coma we find a large number of galaxies
in the Y of west Virgo and
just south of Spica (Alpha Virginis). Most of these are members
of the Virgo
Cluster. West of this, perched astride the line of Hydra,
we see the box shape
of Corvus and goblet shaped Crater. These two small constellations
contain a
number of interesting galaxies.
Crater and Corvus ride north of the sparse
fields of eastern Antlia and
western Centaurus, which give way to central Centaurus with
its assortment of
deep sky objects. The most outstanding feature here is Omega
Centauri, a very
bright globular cluster in a region that hosts galaxies (most
notably NGC
5128), open clusters (such as NGC 5640) and a sprinkling of
interesting double
stars.
South of this we find an almost overwhelming
array of objects to explore. The
Milky Way from Vela to Circinus contains open clusters, star
fields and gas/
dust nebulae of fantastic variety. Look for the Eta Carinae
nebula, a large
mixed system of emission and absorption regions, as well as
the open cluster
IC 2602 in Carina. From there move east to view the huge dust
cloud known as
the Coal Sack in Crux. Near this is the Jewel box, an open
cluster due north
of the Coal Sack that should not be missed. This entire region
can be observed
repeatedly with binoculars. The richness and variety of objects
is
incomparable.
Mercury is still hidden from northern observers
but is a fine morning object
for southerners. By month's end it will be invisible even
in the south.
Venus will be an early evening object better
placed for southern observers.
Mars continues to brighten slowly in the
morning sky. The disk is still rather
small for practical observing.
Jupiter still shines brightly in the evening
sky
Saturn begins to slip into the evening twilight
this month, although telescopic
observations can still be made.
Burnham, Robert Jr., Burnham's Celestial
Handbook, New York: Dover, 1978.
Gupta, R. (ed.), Observers Handbook 2005,
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
Kepple, G. R., Sanner, G. W., The Night Sky
Observers Guide, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 1999.
Tirion, W., Rappaport, B., Remaklus, W.,
Uranometria Deep Sky Atlas, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell,
2000.
Webb, T. W., Celestial Objects for Common
Telescopes, New York: Dover, 1962. 
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