Cetus

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 Cetus the Whale. 

Ok, let's start things off with this weeks lone Messier Object, Spiral Galaxy M77(mag8.8). Located 1° southwest of delta Ceti, you might mistake M77 for a star at a low power. This is an object you'll definitely want to throw some magnification at. The first thing you'll notice is the bright core of the galaxy. As hinted at, this has an almost star-like appearance at low power. This bright core is the result of some peculiar activity going on within the galaxies core. In fact, this galaxy has been classified as a Seyfert galaxy (the only one in Messier's catalog). Seyfert galaxies are distinguished by their highly energetic emissions at radio wavelengths.

Check out this beautiful image of M77 by Robert Gendler. Wow! As I'm sure you remember, Robert is a past Utah Skies Astrophotographer of the Month.

Next up is Planetary Nebula NGC246(mag8). This large, ghost-like planetary nebula  is pretty nice visually. As you might have guessed by its size, this object has a relatively low surface brightness. As such, you'll want to throw some aperture and dark skies at it. I've found that an O-III nebula filter will help somewhat as well. It is quite easy to find about 5.5° SWW of h Ceti, or about 8° north of Beta Ceti,  

This awesome shot was taken by Al Kelly... also a past Utah Skies Astrophotographer of the Month. Pretty Sweet!

Next up is Spiral Galaxy NGC247(mag8.8) This galaxy is located some 13 million light years away. In smaller telescopes, you probably won't see much detail. This object has too little light for too much area. In larger scopes 12+ inches, you'll begin to see a mottled structure towards the core. The spiral arms won't be clearly visible until you've got a decent sized telescope under dark skies.

This gorgeous shot was taken by Charlie Warren of AstroFX in November 2004 using a Meade 10" LX200 f/10 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L3 software. If you're a fan of high end astrophotography, you need to checkout Charlie's site!

Our final stop in Cetus leads us to this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC936(mag10.1). This barred spiral galaxy is located slightly more than 3° SW of Delta Ceti. Looking somewhat like the old Star Wars fighters, this galaxy is over 50 million light years away.

Good Luck!