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Constellation Report
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| Our Constellation report is an easy way for people to
become familiar with the nighttime sky. We’ll discuss myths associated
with the various constellations as well as describing the numerous deep
sky objects residing in the area. No equipment is required to view the
constellations, though a star chart can be quite helpful. This ease of
observing makes constellations a natural place to begin your journey to
the stars.
This weekend we move on to the constellation
Capricornus the Sea Goat. What's a sea goat, you may be wondering? The sea
goat was one of the forms of the Sumerian water-god Ea. This would date
Capricornus back more than 4,000 years!
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Deep Sky Report
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The focus of our efforts this week will be the deep sky objects of
Capricornus. To find this constellation, face south after dark and
you should be looking right at it. Capricornus is between about 20° and
35° above the horizon. To judge this distance, hold out your hand and
spread your fingers wide apart. The distance covered from your thumb to your
pinky finger covers about 20°.
Capricornus is home to a host of double and triple stars, and a lone Messier
object.
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We begin our journey through Capricornus
with a visit to Alpha Capricorni. This pair, which can be separated with
the unaided eye, is a widely spaced double at over 380" of
separation. The brighter of the two is a mag3.6 star with a
golden-yellowish color, while the other is mag4.3 and yellow-orange. These
make a fine pairing in binoculars or a small telescope.
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Next up is Beta Capricorni. This 3rd
magnitude star is actually a triple star -- with 6th magnitude
and 9th magnitude stars encircling it.
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Moving 4° south we come to Sigma
Capricorni. This pair is made up of 5th and 9th magnitude stars with a
55" separation. These stars are orange and reddish orange.
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Move just 2.5° to the east-northeast and you'll find
3 more double stars in a triangular gathering. These are Omicron, Rho and Pi
Capricorni.
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 Next
up is the lone Messier object in Capricornus, Globular Cluster
M30(mag7.3). This is a fairly bright, dense cluster. M30 is estimated to
be about 40,000 light years distant and 100 light years in diameter.M30
can be found about 1/2° west-northwest of 41 Capricorni or
about 6° east-southeast of Zeta Capricorni. M30
has a particularly dense core, due to a core collapse. It also has a
noticeable thinning towards the outer edges. A small telescope will not be able to resolve stars in the core.
This will appear as an impenetrably dense object. The outer halo of stars
however are easy pickings. This is a great object to subject to averted
vision. By looking slightly to the side of the object, you will be able to
resolve additional stars throughout the cluster.
Checkout this awesome shot by Al
Kelly.
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 Jumping
back out of our solar system and deep into our galaxy, we come
Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC6907(mag11.3). This beautiful shot was taken by a
pair of Utah Skies
Featured Astrophotographers... Al
Kelly and Ed
Grafton. Have you been to their sites lately? These guys are always
adding incredible images. Click here for Al
Kelly's Website... and here for Ed
Grafton's Website.
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 Continuing, we come Irregular Galaxy,
NGC6903(mag13).
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 Continuing, we come Irregular Galaxy,
IC1313(mag14.6). This shot was taken by the Anglo-Australian
Observatory.
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 Continuing,
we come to Irregular Galaxy IC1321(mag15)
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Finishing up, we come to this weeks Utah Skies Challenge, a small
cluster of galaxies. These are rather faint, but their numbers might help
you to find them. Located around the stars Rho, Omicron and Pi Capricorni,
discussed above, these galaxies were missed by the Herschel's during the
creation of the NGC list. This gives you a clue as to just how faint these
galaxies are. With the designations IC1319(mag 14) and IC1321(mag15),
these will require dark, steady skies and some serious aperture... say
16" at the minimum. This is one of the toughest Utah Skies Challenges
we thrown at you.
Good Luck!
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