Constellation Report

This weekend we move on to the constellation Canis Major the Big Dog. Canis Major is one of Orion's two faithful dogs. See how he follows him across the sky... Good Doggie :) 

Deep Sky Report

Canis Major can be found in the southeast shortly after dark in late January. You'll immediately spot it's brightest star, Sirius.

Sirius, often called the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the night sky. Only Venus, Jupiter and the moon outshine it. At mag -1.5, Serious completely blows away any other stars. In fact, Sirius is over 20 times brighter than the our Sun! Sirius is also our 5th closest neighbor at only 8.7 light year. This proximity certainly explains the intense brightness. If you catch it rising in the southeast sky, you'll often notice it sparkling wildly. When this happens, you can typically see it changing colors dramatically. First, white, then red, then green... Sirius is also a double star. However, given the difference in brightness between it and it's companion, you'll have a tough time splitting the two.

First up is the only Messier on the list, Open Star Cluster M41(mag4.6)  

M41 can be found easily, as it is located about 4 degrees south of Sirius. It is home to about 100 stars, including several red giants. The brightest star in the cluster is about 700 times more luminous than our Sun. The cluster spans about 25 light years across, is at a distance of 2,300 light years. and is estimated to be about 200 million years old.

M41 is a fairly large, loose cluster. In the eyepiece, it is a beautiful object which spans about 1/2°. Given its size (about that of a full moon), you'll want to enjoy this beauty with a nice low power, wide field eyepiece. I popped in the 31mm Nagler especially for this one. Click on the image to view it full-size. You'll notice some nice double stars within the cluster. These should be fairly easy to split in a small telescope. This is also a nice binocular object, so.. dust off those binos and put them to use!

The accompanying image was taken on 12/19/03by Anthony Arrigo of Utah Skies. It was taken with a Sony DSC-F717 digital camera and is a 30 second exposure through a 150mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope.

Next up is a beautiful Open Star Cluster NGC2362(mag4.1)   You'll instantly notice that this object is a much tighter cluster than M41. And, considering that it's also a bit brighter, it's interesting that Messier did not record it as well. This cluster contains about about 50 stars surrounding mag4 Tau Canis Majoris. This is a very beautiful and very interesting cluster. The majority of cluster members look as if they're playing some sort of supporting role for the brighter star which is several magnitudes brighter than any of the others.

In binoculars, the cluster resembles a soft haze, while a 6" resolves about 25 of the member stars. In a large telescope, this object is quite impressive

Next up is another fine Open Star Cluster, NGC2360(mag7.2)  This object, which has about as many members as NGC2362, will actually show more stars in smaller instruments. A 6-8" telescope will reveal almost twice as many stars as NGC2360. It's not until you move up to larger telescopes that you begin to pull some of the fainter members of NGC2362 into view. 

In the eyepiece, NGC2362 is simply beautiful. It's delicate internal structures will entice you. Another thing to note is the fact that there is no really distinct ending to this cluster. It simply blends into the surrounding Milky Way.

Next up is yet another fine Open Star Cluster, NGC2343(mag7.2)  This object, which has about as many members as NGC2362, will actually show more stars in smaller instruments. A 6-8" telescope will reveal almost twice as many stars as NGC2360. It's not until you move up to larger telescopes that you begin to pull some of the fainter members of NGC2362 into view. 

In the eyepiece, NGC2362 is simply beautiful. It's delicate internal structures will entice you. Another thing to note is the fact that there is no really distinct ending to this cluster. It simply blends into the surrounding Milky Way.

Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, another fine Spiral Galaxy, NGC2207(mag10.6)  This odd looking galaxy is actually a pair of interacting galaxies. The other galaxy is Irregular Galaxy IC2103.

Good Luck!

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