Exploring Puppis- Come And Take a Trip With Me!
Come take a trip with me and let's explore the constellation of Puppis which is abundant in a feast of objects. Everything from double stars, to planetary nebula, emission nebula, globulars clusters and open clusters. Even a galaxy! Not much in the way of galaxies here as the area is richly embedded in the Milky Way which blocks them out. The constellation has at least 40 open clusters; many are beautiful telescopic objects but a great many aren't clearly visible due to such a dense star field they lay in.
In putting this list together, I've sourced several books and on-line sources to come up with a fantastic list full of variety. I hope you enjoy the tour. It's great fun to stay in and explore one constellation in full, giving a great feeling of achievement and makes it a personable experience with the constellation- the feeling of understanding it so much better when you've finished.
THE SHOWSTOPPERS
M46: OC & PN (An open cluster embedded with a mag. 10 PN)
M93: OC (Butterfly Cluster). Binocular object. A bright and massive concentration of stars with gorgeous colours of blue and gold.
This is one of Messier's last objects he discovered personally. It's located 3,400 light years away. Did he realise when he was observing it that this cluster of stars was 100 million years old? Or realize it was forming when Earth's land mass was breaking up, Dinosaurs walked this planet and the first mammals and birds were forming. So seize the moment when you observe this. (source Universe Today).
NGC 2451: OC. A large and bright binocular object.
GENERAL TARGETS
M47: OC
NGC 2539: OC
NGC 2477: OC
NGC 2467: Nebula (mag. 7- A bright, round, fairly even luminous haze)
NGC 2546: OC
Collinder 135:OC (also contains the double star pi Puppis).
Melotte 71: OC. Medium scopes using low magnification will reveal around 80 stars, containing several reddish stars.
NGC 2669: OC. Mag. 6, measuring 12 arc mins across.
INTERESTING STARS
Dunlop 49 Puppis: Double star. Bright white pair.
pi Puppis: Double star with a mag. 6.86 companion. This is the second brightest star in Puppis.
N Puppis (HN 19): Double star. Just a few degrees NE of NGC 2362. A nice double and easy to separate for any size scope. Its mag. 6 components are of equal brightness, separated by 9.6 arc seconds.
Sigma Puppis: Double star. This is a spectroscopic binary system. A bright orange star with a nearby white companion.
Zeta Puppis: Also called Naos, it's the brightest star in Puppis. In fact, it's one of the brightest O-type supergiants in the sky! At 1,600 light years away, it is 60 times heavier than our Sun. It's expected to end its life in 2 million years and go hypernova.
THE CHALLENGES
NGC 2440: PN (mag. 9.4)
17.5" Telescope (2/14/99): this bi-polar planetary reveals fascinating detail at 380x!
The compact high surface brightness inner region is elongated NNW-SSE. Two bright knots comprise both ends and the surface brightness is irregular. The nebulosity is much weaker SW of the main body with a cup-shaped dark "notch" protruding into this central bar. The outer halo is oriented SW-NE with a brighter wing similar to a spiral arm attached at the west edge which swings back towards the south. The outer nebulosity is weaker and less well-defined on the N and NE sides.
13" Telescope: very bright and small with a very high surface brightness. This planetary has a double shell structure with an elongated box-shape oriented NW-SE and a fainter shell oriented SW-NE. One or two condensations are visible in the central part. Located 3.0' W of mag 9 SAO 153271.
- by Steve Gottlieb
http://www.ngcicproject.org/ngcicdb.asp
NGC 2452: PN (mag 12).
17.5" Telescope (3/2/02): at 380x this is a moderately bright, fairly small but interesting planetary. Appears elongated N-S, ~30"x20" with an irregular surface brightness and a slightly darker center or a darker spot. The halo appears brighter at the north and south ends giving a slightly bipolar appearance with the impression of two lobes diminishing in brightness in the center. A faint mag 14.5 star is just off the north edge. Located 8' S of open cluster N2453.
13" Telescope: moderately bright, small, slightly elongated N-S, no interior star visible. Located 6' S of open cluster N2453.
- by Steve Gottlieb.
http://www.ngcicproject.org/ngcicdb.asp
NGC 2298: Also called Dunlop 578. Globular cluster. Mag. 9. It has many variable stars and according the Hubble telescope is on its way to disruption as studies show it's losing mass.
NGC 2427: Galaxy. Around mag. 11 and about 7 arc minutes in size. This is a very low surface brightness spiral galaxy so use a low power eyepiece as it won’t take to any kind of magnification. According to Universe Today, studies have shown it displays peculiar velocities in it’s HII regions and may display gravitation instability.
Excellent!
. Stupid weather 
