by Jim King
February is fast upon us…can March be far behind? Rene Gedaly in her position of FT&O Chair is planning a Messier Marathon for HAS in March at the dark site and will be publishing the particulars.
WHY IS SHE DOING THIS? It is for you! The following seem to be reasonable considerations for you to attend:
- It looks like (and is) fun.
- Astronomy is interesting and challenging.
- You like learning new things and meeting new people.
- You like gadgets, geegaws and widgets…especially things that you can look through and make you go, “WOW”.
- You want to see the splendors of the deep sky for yourself.
- (Add your own hot-button)
The best month for seeing Messier’s list of wonders is March, when under dark, clear skies all 110 objects can be located in a single night. Even if one doesn’t get them all or even most, items one through six above still apply at any level of success or effort.
There are at least two wonderful print sources available to you: Deep-Sky Companions; The Messier Objects by Stephen James O’Meara (hardback, available from Amazon for about $33.00), and The Year-Round Messier Marathon Field Guide by Harvard Pennington (out of print but used copies may be available.) Additionally, a PDF file is available at https://www.readbookpage.com/pdf/the-year-round-messier-marathon-field-guide/) Be aware, that download is quite large, but, I think, free.
I have heard rumors the Pennington field guide is back in print, but I have not been able to locate a source. If true, perhaps Rene knows. In addition, software programs such as Sky Tools can provide great planning source documents.
For those of you who might be doing the monthly program, February’s entries follow.
(An important jargon jogger: Messier uses the descriptive term “nebula” since he was frequently using a 3.5-inch telescope which had difficulty resolving dim stars. It appears that he thought “nebulae” were not gas clouds, but simply unresolved star clouds. Therefore, in our descriptions, we must mentally separate Messier’s “nebulae” from the real thing. He does differentiate nebulosity from luminosity.)
M108 Edge-on Spiral Galaxy (3 detectible) * M108 is a gorgeous edge-on spiral galaxy. It measures 110 lightyears across but is only one-twentieth the mass of M31, Andromeda. Although we see the galaxy nearly edge-on, the central bulge is all but absent. Whatever shines in the nuclear region is masked by turbulent eddies of dark matter lining the galaxy’s highly foreshortened arms. The nucleus might also have depleted itself long ago, or it has only periodic bursts of energy activity that keep it going. Brilliant regions of star formation among the obscuring matter look like signal flares burning in a storm.
Messier note: (none)
NGC note: Quite bright, very large, very much extended at position angle 79 degrees, becoming brighter in the middle, mottled.
Data: Messier 108 aka NGC 3556
Con: Ursa Major Mag: 10.0
RA: 11h15.5m Dec: +55.40
Dist: ~47 million ly
M97 Planetary nebula (3 detectible) * This distinctive planetary nebula, so strongly resembling the face of an owl, is a real challenge for small telescopes because its faint light is spread over an area roughly five times the size of Jupiter’s apparent disk. Thus, to see the Owl Nebula well, one needs to be under a dark sky.
Messier notes: (observed March 24, 1781) Nebula in Ursa Major that is difficult to see. Its light is faint and without any stars.
NGC notes: Very remarkable planetary nebula, very bright, very large, round, suddenly brighter in the middle.
Data: Messier 97 aka NGC 3587 aka Owl Nebula.
Con: Ursa Major Mag 9.8
RA: 11h14.8m Dec: +55.01
Dist.: ~1,300 ly
M105 Elliptical Galaxy (2 easy) *This object, first discovered and noted by P. Mechain, Charlie’s associate in 1781, was not included in the M-Catalogue until 1947. It has since been suggested that it contains a 50 million solar mass black hole. Such evidence and other similar findings have made astronomers suspect that nearly all galaxies harbor supermassive black holes that once powered quasars but are now quiet.
Messier notes: None
NGC note: Very bright, considerably large, round, pretty suddenly brighter in the middle, mottled.
Data: Messier 105 aka NGC 3379
Con: Leo Mag 9.3
RA: 10h47.8m Dec: +12.35
Dist.: ~38 million ly
***
* Sky Tools offers an observability scale of 1 – 6, with 1 being “Obvious” and 6 being “Very Challenging”. The rating scale I use is based on a Celestron SCT 8 Evolution telescope at the HAS dark site on a moonless night.
Finito!
Ex astris, scientia, y’all!
Jim King
Outreach Chair
Want more? Check out the HAS website under “Programs”/Messier Challenge/HAS 45
