April 2020 - Monthly Challenge.
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 2:50 pm
APRIL 2020 MONTHLY CHALLENGE.
Once again, thanks you for all the great suggestions that were put forward for this months targets.
All the suggested targets were put into a random draw generator and we have our winners!
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - M44, THE BEEHIVE CLUSTER.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE -NGC 3372.
Many thanks to those members that put the above suggestions forward!
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - M44, the Beehive cluster.
M44 is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. At a magnitude of +3.09 it is visible to the naked eye but not resolvable and is a easy binocular and telescope target.
This is what Wikipedia has to say, the link to the wikipedia page is linked below.
Here is a screenshot from Stellarium.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE -NGC 3372.
NGC 3372 is also known as the Eta Carina Nebula. NGC 3372 is a large bright nebula in the constellation Carina.
This is a great target for both binoculars and a telescope.
Wikipedia has this to say, link to the article below.
And a screenshot ofNGC 3372 from Stellarium.
And that folks concludes our monthly target roundup.
Get out under the night skies and have fun finding, imaging, sketching or simply allowing your eye to soak up photons through the eyepiece!
We look forward to any images, sketches or visual reports you have.
Once again, thanks you for all the great suggestions that were put forward for this months targets.
All the suggested targets were put into a random draw generator and we have our winners!
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - M44, THE BEEHIVE CLUSTER.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE -
Many thanks to those members that put the above suggestions forward!
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - M44, the Beehive cluster.
M44 is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. At a magnitude of +3.09 it is visible to the naked eye but not resolvable and is a easy binocular and telescope target.
This is what Wikipedia has to say, the link to the wikipedia page is linked below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_ClusterIn 1609, Galileo first telescopically observed the Beehive and was able to resolve it into 40 stars. Charles Messier added it to his famous catalog in 1769 after precisely measuring its position in the sky. Along with the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades cluster, Messier's inclusion of the Beehive has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets. Another possibility is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects, and so he added some well-known bright objects to boost his list.[12] Wilhelm Schur, as director of the Göttingen Observatory, drew a map of the cluster in 1894.
Here is a screenshot from Stellarium.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE -
This is a great target for both binoculars and a telescope.
Wikipedia has this to say, link to the article below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina_NebulaThe Carina Nebula (catalogued as NGC 3372; also known as the Grand Nebula, Great Nebula in Carina, or Eta Carinae Nebula) is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, and is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years (2,600 pc) from Earth.
The nebula is one of the largest diffuse nebulae in our skies. Although it is four times as large as and even brighter than the famous Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is much less well known due to its location in the southern sky. It was discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1752 from the Cape of Good Hope.
And a screenshot of
And that folks concludes our monthly target roundup.
Get out under the night skies and have fun finding, imaging, sketching or simply allowing your eye to soak up photons through the eyepiece!
We look forward to any images, sketches or visual reports you have.