Moving Towards Spring

Becky Pontier, NBAS

The days are getting longer, but despite the cold and snow, as we move out of the winter Milky Way, there are (as always) lots of things to observe.

Looking to the East we move away from the winter objects in Orion, Taurus, and Canis Major (although they’re all still observable), and into Gemini and Cancer, but also Camelopardalis and Lynx - both of which are full of deep-sky objects generally overlooked because of their dim parent constellations. As you’re musing about what to look at, don’t forget to check out this area of the sky.

Looking Above

Turning attention away from Orion, there are several exciting objects to see with small telescopes.

Here’s a finding chart for all four of these and other interesting objects.

Clown in the Cold

C 39 (NGC 2392) is a small planetary nebula with a lot of structure under high magnification. It is a good β€œchallenge” object.

“Twinkling Comet”

No, it’s not a comet, but cluster NGC 2420 has a tendency to pop in and out of view in a small telescope. Try it!

Wanderer?

C 25 (NGC 2419) is a distant globular cluster that takes 3 billion years to orbit the Milky Way.

Dusty Hand

NGC 2146 is in Camelopardalis has an odd shape, and is bright enough to see with a moderate aperture telescope.

This Month’s Image

Bob Donahue, NBAS

The Horsehead Nebula is something of a β€œright of passage” for amateurs because it’s challenging to detect visually but well worth it.

Here, the dust cloud of the dark nebula (3 1/2 light years across) is situated in front of an illuminated emission nebula (IC 434). It’s 1,753 light years away.