[orestis]

Hello everyone,

Welcome to this Month’s Observing Challenge and I hope you get clear skies.
Please post your observations and or sketches of these objects in this thread. Good luck hunting down these objects.


NGC 2808: Apparent Magnitude: 6.3 Apparent Diameter: 13.8 (arc minutes)

NGC 2808 is a globular cluster in the constellation Carina. The cluster belongs to the Milky Way, and is one of our home galaxy's most massive clusters, containing more than a million stars. It is estimated to be 12.5-billion years old.


Star Generations
It had been thought that NGC 2808 - like typical globular clusters - contains only one generation of stars \formed simultaneously from the same material. In 2007, a team of astronomers led by G. Piotto of the University of Padua in Italy investigated Hubble Space Telescope images of NGC 2808 taken in 2005 and 2006 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Unexpectedly, they found that this cluster is composed of three generations of stars, all born within 200 million years of the formation of the cluster. Astronomers have argued that globular clusters can produce only one generation of stars, because the radiation from first generation stars would drive the residual gas not consumed in the first star generation phase out of the cluster. However, the great mass of a cluster such as NGC 2808 may suffice to gravitationally counteract the loss of gaseous matter. Thus, a second and a third generation of stars may form. An alternative explanation for the three star generations of NGC 2808 is that it may actually be the remnant of a dwarf galaxy that collided with the Milky Way. I hope you find this very interesting I did.


M1-(also known as the crab nebula) Apparent magnitude:+8.4 Apparent size:6 arcminutes.

Have you ever seen the remains of a star in its old age? If not, take out your scope on a clear night and point it towards the constellation Taurus. Locate the 2nd- magnitude star Zeta Tauri, and from here move your telescope one degree northwest. M1, the famous crab nebula will be right in the centre of your eyepiece's field.

The nebula is all that is left of a supernova that erupted nearly one thousand years ago. Ancient Chinese records indicate that the supernova exploded on July 4, 1054. For several weeks it shone far brighter than Venus and was even visible in daylight. This spectacular event was also recorded by Anasazi Indians, in pictographs on the rock walls of canyons in Navaho and White Mesa (Arizona).

Comet 81p/wild 2 –Constellation: Virgo AMagnitude-10.00

This is the second of four periodic comets discovered by Paul wild from the astronomical institute of Berne. It was first noticed on photographs taken in January 1978.comet wild 2 is noted for being a relatively ‘fresh’ comet in the inner solar system. A close encounter (0.2 AU) with Jupiter in 1974 (four years before the comets discovery) moved the comet into its current orbit. Prior to 1974,the comet is calculated to have come no closer than 5 AU,with a period of nearly 40 years. In January 2004,Nasa’s stardust probe flew past the comet.


Regulus Double star And Gamma leonis


Regulus is a double star (mg 1.4 & 7.7) with it’s companion being 177’’ away and is visible, even in binoculars.
Gamma Leonis or Algeiba is a double star (mg 2.2 & 3.5), described by Burnham as one of the finest double stars in the sky. They are both yellow in color but the pair is very close and difficult for low power telescopes to resolve.


Ngc 3242 pn in hydra (ghost of Jupiter):Magnitude: 8.60 Size: 25"

The ghost of Jupiter is considered to be one of the finest pne for any sized scope. This object was discovered by William Herschel in 1785.
In a small telescope it appears as small, oval disk that bears a close resemblance to Jupiter hence the name. Like most bright pne it appears pale blue or green to the eyes of most observers.
For those with access to larger-aperture telescopes, ngc3242 has an abundance of delightful detail in store.


Ngc 1532 gx in Eridanus Apparent magnitude-10.7 Apparent size 12’.6 x 3’.3


NGC 1532 is an edge-on barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Eridanus.


NGC 1532 is one of many edge-on spiral galaxies that possesses a box-shaped bulge. This is an indication that the bulge is actually a bar. Such bars are easy to detect in face-on galaxies, where the structures can be identified visually. In inclined galaxies such as this one, however, careful analyses are needed to distinguish between bulges and bar structures.
NGC 1532 may possess several dwarf companion galaxies. The galaxy is clearly interacting with one of these galaxies, the amorphous dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The tidal forces from this interaction have created unusual plumes above the disk of NGC 1532.


Ngc 1888 and 1889 gx in lepus (challenge for big scopes) Vmag-12.1 and 13.1 respectively.

I couldn’t find any info on these galaxies. These ought to be a good challenge for everyone.


Ngc 3201 Glob in Vela Apparent magnitude-6.8 Size (arc min): 18.2
I couldn’t find any info on this glob does anyone have any?

Hope you have fun doing the challenge
regards orestis

ps-i'll post some charts on most of the objects later.