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Constellation
Report |
 This weekend we move on to the constellation
Hydra
the Watersnake. Hydra is the largest constellation, spanning 11 hours of Right Ascension... nearly halfway around the sky! Look at the accompanying star chart...This thing is huge! It spans from Cancer to Virgo...over two months worth of Utah Skies reports!
Hydra was a terrible multi-headed monster. If one
of it's heads got cut off.. .two would grow back in its place. Hydra was
finally killed by the mighty Hercules.
The ancient Egyptians saw Hydra as the river
Nile.... flowing endlessly across the night sky.
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Deep
Sky Report
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The focus of our efforts here will be the deep sky objects of
Hydra.
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 Ok, let's start things off with a beautiful
Open Star Cluster, M48(mag5.8). M48 can be found at the extreme western
edge of Hydra... right near the border with Monoceros.
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 Next we'll hit
Globular Star Cluster, M68(mag8.2). M68 moves us way towards the
east in Hydra... just below the eastern edge of Corvus.
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 Next we'll hit a
Spiral Galaxy, M83(mag8.0). Also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy because of it's beautiful shape, this galaxy is an easy find, but just a bit too low for optimal viewing from mid-northern latitudes. If you're going to look for M83, hit it between 11:00pm and 1:00am when it is closest to the meridian.
M83 moves us to extreme southeastern Hydra...
just north of the constellation Centaurus.
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 Continuing, we come to a beautiful
Planetary Nebula NGC3242(mag8.6). Also known as the Ghost of Jupiter or Caldwell59. The object is about the same as Jupiter but no where near as bright. It is plenty bright enough to view though. Instruments in the 4-6" range should have no trouble spotting it. It's blueish color is unmistakable. Observers with larger apertures should be able to pull lots of detail out... and may even spy the mag11 central star. To find The Ghost, simply look 2° south of Mu Hydrae. Nebula filters do not seem to add much to the view, though increased magnification will tend to pull out some extra detail and structure.
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 Next we'll hit
Globular Cluster, NGC5694(mag10.2) - Caldwell66. While not the most amazing view in the eyepiece, It is located on the far side of the galaxy and therefore is one of the most distant Milky Way Globular Star clusters.
To find this beauty, move a few degrees northwest
of NGC3242.
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 Next up is
Spiral Galaxy NGC2784(mag10.1) As you can see in the accompanying image, the spiral arms don't stand out too well. This gives the galaxy the appearance of an elliptical.
NGC2784 can be found in southwestern Hydra...
just above the constellation Pyxis.
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Let's wrap things up with this weeks
Utah Skies Challenge Object, Elliptical Galaxy NGC3309(mag11.9). Don't get too excited about the almost mag12 value. This would be a tough find if it were on its own. However, this galaxy is at the center of the Hydra Galaxy Cluster aka Abell 1060. NGC3309 is the bright galaxy on the right in the central pairing. NGC3311 is to the left.