Quote:
Originally Posted by mental4astro
Hi Wey,
 to IIS 
There is a set of threads here in IIS that lists a series of monthly objects that range from easy naked eye ones through to suck-your-eyeballs-out hard. Have a look at this following link that will take you to The Challenge.
The Challenge is not a competition, but a compilation of objects selected that offer not only a degree of observing difficulty, but also a series of objects that are also EASY to find and are offered with an explanation of what you are actually looking at. Thing with observing is a little bit of information goes a long way to helping understand what you are looking at, AND what to look for. The Challenge offers nebulae, open and globular clusters, galaxies, and the planets, structured into different months of the year.
As an example, the brilliant nebula M42: it is a cloud of gas and dust where young stars have just kicked off their nuclear fire and their energy is causing the cloud to glow and the shape of the cloud is being shaped by this same massive energy blowing the material away from these stars. But, there are also dozens of stars that have not quite reached their nuclear fire trigger point, but that they are there, many of them, and massive, is shown by those dark 'clumps' of dust. These clumps are resisting the erosion of the energy from those 'new star'. This resistance comes from the gravity of these protostars as they sweep up dust and gas that is forming them and the future solar systems that will surround them. Now, things don't stop there!!! At the core of M42 is The Trapezium. This is a cluster of four massive stars that is the powerhouse of the nebula. Yet there are more members to this cluster than just these four. There are many more stars in this cluster, with the challenge here is being able to see as many of these as possible. The Trapezium's four main stars are called Trap. A, B, C & D. Two other stars, Trap. E & F are fainter and the easier ones of the fainter members to see. Then there is Trap. G, H, I, J, K, etc. These require large apertures in telescopes to see as they are very faint and good quality optics to distinguish, and exceptionally stable atmospheric conditions.. I've been fortunate to be able to spot the stars A through to I.
Now, armed with all of this, have a new look at M42, this time taking your time to identify the various structures within it,
Below I've attached the sketch I made of M42 a couple of years ago when I saw all those component stars of The Trapezium. |
Always great to have an explanation as to what I'm seeing. These challenges sound fun. Hoping to get out in a couple of days and will try the list. Been cloudy every night since Saturday
