THE WINTER NIGHT SKY

The Moon 2009

The  phases of the moon for December, January and February  are as follows: 

 

 

The Constellations

At the time of press (mid January) we say the final farewell to the Autumn constellations of Aquila and Pagasus plus Andromeda is also very low down, these    constellations are replaced with the Winter wonders of: Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Aries, Auriga, Canis Minor and Canis Major. We also have Leo and Virgo making an early morning appearance with their multitude of galaxies.

Orion, Taurus and Gemini dominate the south eastern sky, add the presence of Jupiter (in Gemini) and Saturn (in Taurus) and what a spectacle we have. Auriga is almost overhead with its bright star the yellow giant Capella. Leo doesn’t rise until the early hours in January but its shape is unmistakable. Cancer is feint and lies between Gemini and Leo. Canis Major dominated by Sirius, the brightest star in the Sky, can be found by following downwards the three stars of Orion’s belt.  

 

 

Deep Sky Objects

  Canis Major

M41 lies just south of Sirius and is a loose cluster comprising of approximately 80 stars.

Lepus

This constellation is very obscure; it only has one notable feature the globular cluster of M79.

Orion

The most well known deep sky feature is undoubtedly M42, The Great Nebula, this forms part of Orion’s sword. At the centre of the nebula is the famous Trapezium star group, comprising of four bright stars and two much feinter stars, have a look for them next time you observe! The M78 nebula lies just north east of Alnitak; the left-hand star of Orion’s Belt.     NGC 1973, 1975 and 1977 are a triple nebula grouping located above M42.

 

Taurus

This constellation holds three very well known deep sky objects, two open star clusters and one nebula. The open star clusters are M45 “The Pleiades” and “The Hyades” although this is not included in Messiers Catalogue. The nebula is M1 “The Crab” although this is purely a telescopic object.

 

Auriga

 

M36, M37 and M38 are all loose star clusters, M37 is the largest of the three followed by M38 and then M36. M36 can be seen with binoculars, M37 is a very rich cluster and is easily visible with binoculars. M38 is fairly dim and requires a telescope to observe it in any kind of detail.

 

Monoceros

This dim and obscure constellation lies east of Orion and its only notable feature is M50, an open cluster. I find the easiest way to locate M50 is to follow the belt stars of Orion downwards and to draw another imaginary line eastwards from Rigel, where the two lines cross you can locate M50. Personally if you don’t have the benefit of computer guidance I wouldn’t bother, there are far more interesting objects on view. 

 

Gemini 

This constellation contains the open cluster M35. The other interesting deep sky object is NGC 2392 or the Eskimo Nebula, this object has a magnitude of 10 and is therefore visible in small telescopes.

 

Hydra 

This constellation is again rather obscure and lies below Cancer and Leo. The only notable object is the open cluster M48 this lies on the border between Hydra and Monoceros.

 

Cancer    

This constellation contains two bright open star clusters, M67 and M44. M67 is a binocular object; M44 (The Beehive) is visible to the naked eye.

 

Leo

Leo contains several galaxies of interest but in January you will have to wait well into the early hours to catch a glimpse of them. M65 and M66 can be seen in the same low power eyepiece and arguably can be seen in binoculars. M95, M96 and M105 are a little feinter and require a small telescope. 

 

Orion (The Hunter)

One of the most distinctive constellations.  Betelgeux (discussed elsewhere), Rigel, Bellatrix, Alnilam make up the 4 outer stars.  The constellation contains the great Nebula M42.

This page was updated on 2 March 2008                     Next Page