Let's focus on to the northern constellation of Pegasus -- The Winged Horse. A large northern constellation included by Ptolemy in his list of 48 (c. AD 140). It is noted for the prominent square - the Square of Pegasus - formed by its three brightest stars and Alpha Andromedae (Alpheratz), all of which are second magnitude.
Let's start things off with a nice, big,
beautiful Globular Star Cluster -- M15(mag6.3). This is a really cool globular.
Then again, I think all globulars are cool :) Anyway. It's big, it's bright, and at least in the big scope, resolves
deep into the core. M15 is one of the brightest globulars in northern skies.
M15 looks like a pile of diamonds stacked on a black velvet background.
Can you see any color variation among the stars? Estimates place it's
distance at around 35,000-40,000 light years, with a diameter of about 130
light years. This globular is noticeably denser towards the core.
M15 is rather easy to find. Just extend a line from Theta through Epsilon Pegasi about 1/2 the distance and you'll have found it.
Next up is the beautiful
Spiral Galaxy NGC7331(mag9.5)
. The accompanying Robert Gendler image displays an incredible amount of
detail throughout the galaxy, even revealing several companion galaxies in
the background. Notice the bright central region and the beautifully
arching spiral arms. This is a "classic" spiral galaxy!
Next up is a fine example of a
Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC7479(mag11). This beauty has a prominent central bulge
with arms wrapped around it. Viewed almost face-on, this galaxy should be
visible in instruments as small as 8". Ideally, you'd want 12"
or more... and dark skies to fully appreciate this object.
Moving on, we come to the
Edge-on Spiral Galaxy NGC7814(mag10.45). This beauty should be fairly easy to spot in an
8". However, viewing the central dust lane is another story
altogether. Reports I've heard indicate that a 16" is required
to clearly identify this feature.
To find this object, start at Gamma Pegasi (the south-east corner) and move 2.5° WNW.
This amazing shot of NGC7814 by Robert Gendler image clearly captures the galaxy and its dust lane.
Our final stop in Pegasus leads us to
this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, NGC 7320 -- better known as
Stephan's Quintet. With a visual magnitude of around 12.65, finding this
object is not for those who fear a challenge. Dark skies and larger
apertures are the preferred route. There is considerable debate as to weather these galaxies are gravitationally bound, or just located in a chance visual alignment. At a distance of roughly 12.9 Mpc (Mega Parsecs) or over 42 million light years, this galaxy cluster is quite remote. Remember, 1 light year is equal to over 6,000,000,000,000,000 (6 trillion miles). So...doing the math (correctly I hope:) places this object 252,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles away. Somebody please check my math. This many zeros is hard to look at, never mind read.
Anyway... Enough of that. The deep sky obsessed among you fears no challenge. You'll be out there looking for this in your binoculars :)
This beautiful image comes from the Gemini Observatory/Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage. Sweet!
Good Luck!