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Constellation Report |
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 This weekend we move on to the constellation Ophiuchus The Serpent Bearer. Ophiuchus comes from two Greek words ophis for serpent and cheiro-o for handler. Interestingly, the constellation is associated with a predecessor of Hippocrates -- the Greek healer, Aesculapius.
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Deep Sky Report |
| The focus of our efforts here will be the deep sky objects of Ophiuchus |
 For lack of a better strategy, lets go through this weeks objects in numeric order. We'll therefore start with the Globular Cluster M9 (mag 7.8). Located about 3.5 degrees to the southeast of mag2.5 Eta Ophiuchi. This globular appears as a smudge of light in binoculars. At low power in a telescope, M9 begins to hint of the brilliance of some of the more spectacular globulars to come. |
 And, speaking of brilliant globulars, our next stop is exactly that. At mag 6.6, Globular Star Cluster M10 is an impressive site. Under dark skies, this object can be glimpsed with the naked eye and is an easy binocular target. Moving to a telescope reveals an incredible number of stars. Each increase in aperture seems to reveal several times more stars than the previous view. With a diameter of about 15.1 arc minutes, M10 is more than half the diameter of the full moon |
 Moving on about 3.5 degrees to the northwest we come to another impressive Globular Star Cluster, M12 (mag 6.6). These can be viewed together with a pair of binoculars or a rich field telescope. You'll immediately notice some interesting color contrasts within this cluster. Additionally, the interior does not appear to be as densely packed as its larger and brighter neighbor. |
 Next up is a rather unassuming Globular Star Cluster M14(mag7.6). This object has a slightly elliptical shape. Current estimates place it about 23,000 light years away
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 Moving on, we come to Globular Star Cluster M19(mag6.8). M19 is fairly rich and densely packed. The brightest stars of M19 are about 14th magnitude requiring a fairly large aperture to resolve them individually.
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 Our final Messier object in Ophiuchus is Globular Star Cluster M62(mag6.6) M62 is one of the most irregularly shaped globular clusters. This deformation may be a result of the fact that M62 is one of the closest of Messier's globulars to the Galactic center (only about 6100 light years), our galaxy's strong gravitational tug may be altering its shape.
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 Here's the first of several beautiful Dark Nebulae. Named the Snake Nebula, this beauty was first discovered by Barnard back in the early 1900's; it is designated B72. Dark Nebulae are noted for their lack of light. This object stands out in stark contrast to the bright, star filled sky behind the nebula. This beautiful shot was taken by Jerry Lodriguss. |
 This beautiful shot of the Pipe Dark Nebula was taken by Jerry Lodriguss. |
 This beautiful shot of The Rho Ophiuchus Complex was taken astrophotography wiz Jerry Lodriguss. Located just 3° north of bright Antares, this huge nebulous complex is incredibly rich in photographs. Jerry took a pair of 12 minute exposures to make this shot. |
 Next up we come to our Utah Skies Challenge Object, Spiral Galaxy NGC6384(mag10.5). Located 5.5 degrees south of Rasalhague, the alpha star, this spiral galaxy is viewed face on. This beautiful shot was taken by Dan Eldredge of Boston University.
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