Favorite Seasonal Objects
 

The night sky has it's seasons. As the earth travels around the sun, the portion of sky in the night side of the earth changes. Each night a star will rise 4 minutes later than the night before, 2 hours later than the month before, and 24 hours later, or rather the same time as the year before.

While some objects are listed for one season, if you stay out late enough you can see them in the previous season. For example even though the constellation Orion is considered a winter constellation, if you stay up until 2AM you can see it in September. It is listed a winter since it is overhead at a reasonable hour. In fact toward the end of March if you stay out all night it is possible to see all 110 Messier objects. Clubs often hold Messier Marathons in March.

Clicking on the name will bring up an image. Keep in mind that through a small telescope the images of nebulae will have less detail and almost no color, and galaxies look like fuzzy patches.

  
 
Winter
The winter sky seems closer and brighter. In the region of Orion are seven of the 20 brightest stars in the heavens. If you can brave the cold, observing on a winter night is a rewarding experience. Skies are steadier. There are some great objects overhead in the winter.
 
NameConstellationDesignationMagnitudeComments
Orion NebulaOrionM424.0Visible to the naked eye in the sword of Orion, this is one of my favorite objects. Beautiful in binoculars or a telescope.
PleiadesTaurusM451.6Beautiful group of stars with nebulosity.
Andromeda GalaxyAndromedaM313.4This galaxy the nearest to our Milky way. It can be found in andromeda by finding the great square of Pegasus. The great square is easy to find in the eastern sky in the autumn.
Open ClusterGeminiM355.3Considered to be one of the most beautiful open clusters in the sky.
Double ClusterPerseusNGC 869 and NGC 884 Beautiful at low power and wide field.
SaturnTaurus  This is where she is this year 2003. Moving towards Gemini where she will be for the next few years.
JupiterCancer  Jupiter is closer and moves a bit faster in the sky. On April 3, 2003 Jupiter will be very near the Beehive cluster. It will be in Leo in 2004 and Virgo in 2005.
  
 
Spring
Spring is the time for galaxies. While there are not as many bright stars or clusters, there is a large number of galaxies visible in this portion of the sky.
 
NameConstellationDesignationMagnitudeComments
Beehive ClusterCancerM443.7Bright open cluster.
Whirlpool GalaxyCanes VenaticiM518.4A beautiful spiral galaxy seen broadside.
Globular ClusterCanes VenaticiM36.2Very Bright. One of the brightest.
Globular ClusterSerpens CaputM443.7Another fine cluster in the league of M3 and M13.
Elliptical GalaxyLeoM1059.3Large and Bright (for a galaxy)
     
  
 
Summer
The Summer triangle helps us find our way in the summer night sky. Sagittarius is low in the southern sky and contains a wealth of objects. The galactic center is located in Sagittarius, no wonder there is so much "stuff" to see. 
 
NameConstellationDesignationMagnitudeComments
Ring NebulaLyraM578.8Like a smoke ring in the heavens. It can be found in the parallelogram of Lyra. It is one of the brightest nebulas and can be seen in a small telescope.
Globular ClusterHerculesM135.8Very Bright. One of the brightest.
Globular ClusterHerculesM926.4Another bright one.
AlbireoCygnusHIP 95947 A beautiful double star of blue and gold at the nose of the swan Cygnus
Blinking Planetary NebulaCygnusNGC 6826 Although this is a tougher one to find I really love this one. If you look directly at it it appears as a star. If you look slightly to the side (averted vision) it turns to a fuzzy ball. It "blinks because your eye moves.
Veil NebulaCygnusNGC 6960 For this we need dark skies or an O3 filter. This is a beautiful site for sure. One night observing at a dark sky site in PA I found myself stuck at the eyepiece. I could not stop looking. I does look like a veil of golden satin blowing in the heavens.
Dumbbell NebulaVulpeculaM277.4Easiest to find when using Cygnus as a reference.
Lagoon NebulaSagittariusM86.0Visible to the naked eye.
Omega, Swan, Horseshoe, or Lobster NebuSagittariusM176.0To me this looks like a swan more than anything. My daughter loves this one because it really looks like a swan.
Sagittarius Star CloudSagittariusM244.6This is an area where our view towards the center of the Milky Way is less obscured by dust than elsewhere. I enjoy pointing the scope in this direction and panning around slowly.
     
     
  
 
Autumn
The Summer triangle helps us find our way in the summer night sky. Sagittarius is low in the southern sky and contains a wealth of objects. The galactic center is located in Sagittarius, no wonder there is so much "stuff" to see.
 
NameConstellationDesignationMagnitudeComments
Andromeda GalaxyAndromedaM313.4This galaxy the nearest to our Milky way. It can be found in andromeda by finding the great square of Pegasus. The great square is easy to find in the eastern sky in the autumn.
Open ClusterCasiopeiaM527.3Very fine
Ring NebulaLyraM578.8Like a smoke ring in the heavens. It can be found in the parallelogram of Lyra. It looks nice in a medium size telescope.
Globular ClusterAquariusM26.5Bright and beautiful.
Globular ClusterCapriornusM307.2Nice