MESSIER 13 RA(2000) : 16h 41m 42s DEC(2000): +36° 27’ 41” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Globular Cluster CONSTELLATION: Hercules BEST VIEW: Late July DISCOVERY: Edmond Halley, 1714 DISTANCE: 25,100 ly DIAMETER: 145 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +5.8 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 20’ Starry Night FOV: 1.00 Lyra FOV: 60.00 Libra MESSIER 6 (Butterfly Cluster) RA(2000) : 17Ophiuchus h 40m 20s DEC(2000): -32° 15’ 12” M6 Sagitta Serpens Cauda Vulpecula Scutum Scorpius Aquila M6 FOV: 5.00 Telrad Delphinus Norma Sagittarius Corona Australis Ara Equuleus M6 Triangulum Australe BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster Telescopium CONSTELLATION: Scorpius Capricornus BEST VIEW: August DISCOVERY: Giovanni Batista Hodierna, c. 1654 DISTANCE: 1600 ly MicroscopiumDIAMETER: 12 – 25 ly Pavo APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +4.2 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 25’ – 54’ AGE: 50 – 100 million years Telrad Indus MESSIER 7 (Ptolemy’s Cluster) RA(2000) : 17h 53m 51s DEC(2000): -34° 47’ 36” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster CONSTELLATION: Scorpius BEST VIEW: August DISCOVERY: Claudius Ptolemy, 130 A.D. DISTANCE: 900 – 1000 ly DIAMETER: 20 – 25 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +3.3 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 80’ AGE: ~220 million years FOV:Starry 1.00Night FOV: 60.00 Hercules Libra MESSIER 8 (THE LAGOON NEBULA) RA(2000) : 18h 03m 37s DEC(2000): -24° 23’ 12” Lyra M8 Ophiuchus Serpens Cauda Cygnus Scorpius Sagitta M8 FOV: 5.00 Scutum Telrad Vulpecula Aquila Ara Corona Australis Sagittarius Delphinus M8 BASIC INFORMATION Telescopium OBJECT TYPE: Star Forming Region CONSTELLATION: Sagittarius Equuleus BEST VIEW: August DISCOVERY: Hodierna, 1654 (nebula) Le Gentil, 1747 (nebula & cluster) Capricornus DISTANCE: 4000 – 6000 ly DIAMETER: Approximately 130 ly x 60 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +Microscopium6.0 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 90’x40’ Telrad Indus MESSIER 20 (THE TRIFID NEBULA) RA(2000) : 18h 02m 42s DEC(2000): -22° 58’ 18” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Star Forming Region CONSTELLATION: Sagittarius BEST VIEW: August DISCOVERY: Messier, 1764 DISTANCE: ~5200 ly DIAMETER: 42 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +9.0 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 11’ MESSIER 17 (THE SWAN NEBULA) RA(2000) : 18h 20m 47s DEC(2000): -16° 10’ 18” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Star Forming Region CONSTELLATION: Sagittarius BEST VIEW: Late August DISCOVERY: Philippe Loys deCheseaux, 1745 DISTANCE: 5200 – 6800 ly DIAMETER: 15 – 20 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +6.0 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 11’ FOV:Starry 1.00Night FOV: 60.00 Sagitta Vulpecula Ophiuchus M22 Serpens Cauda MESSIER 22 RA(2000) : 18h 36m 23.9s DEC(2000): -23° 54’ 17.1” Aquila Delphinus Scutum Equuleus M22 FOV: 5.00 Scorpius Telrad Pegasus Sagittarius Corona Australis Capricornus Ara M22 BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Globular Cluster CONSTELLATION: Sagittarius BEST VIEW: Late August DISCOVERY: Abraham Ihle, 1665 Telescopium DISTANCE: 10,400 ly MicroscopiumDIAMETER: 97 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +5.1 Aquarius APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 32’ Pavo Piscis Austrinus Telrad Indus EPSILON LYRAE (e LYR or “THE DOUBLE DOUBLE”) e1 RA(2000) : 18h 44m 20.3s DEC(2000): +39° 40’ 20” e2 RA(2000) : 18h 44m 22.8s DEC(2000): +39° 36’ 46” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Multiple Star System CONSTELLATION: Lyra BEST VIEW: Late August DISCOVERY: F.G.W. Struve, 1831 DISTANCE: 163 ly AVG. BINARY SEPARATION: e = 208” (>10,000 AU), e1 = 2.8” (235 AU), e2 = 2.2” (145 AU) ORBITAL PERIOD: e = At least 400,000 years, e1 ~ 1800 years, e2 ~724 years APPARENT MAGNITUDE: 3.8 MESSIER 57 (THE RING NEBULA) RA(2000) : 18h 53m 35s DEC(2000): +33° 01’ 45” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Planetary Nebula CONSTELLATION: Lyra BEST VIEW: Late August DISCOVERY: Charles Messier, 1779 DISTANCE: 2300 ly DIAMETER: 0.9 ly (bright ring), 2.5 ly (IR halo) APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +8.8 (nebula) +15.7 (central star) APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 1.4’ x 1.0’ MESSIER 11 (The Wild Duck Cluster) RA(2000) : 18h 51m 05s DEC(2000): -06° 16’ 12” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster CONSTELLATION: Scutum BEST VIEW: September DISCOVERY: Gottfried Kirch, 1681 DISTANCE: Approx. 6000 ly DIAMETER: Approx. 50 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +6.3 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 14’ AGE: Approx. 220 million years ALBIREO (b CYG) RA(2000) : 19h 30m 43s DEC(2000): +27° 57’ 35” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Double Star CONSTELLATION: Cygnus BEST VIEW: Late September DISCOVERY: Known to Ancients DISTANCE: Albireo A = 328 ly Albireo B = 389 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: 3.1 MESSIER 27 (THE DUMBBELL NEBULA) RA(2000) : 19h 59m 36.4s DEC(2000): +22° 43’ 15.8” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Planetary Nebula CONSTELLATION: Vulpecula BEST VIEW: Early October DISCOVERY: Charles Messier, 1764 DISTANCE: 1360 ly DIAMETER: 3 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +7.4 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 8.0’ x 5.7’ MESSIER 15 RA(2000) : 21h 29m 58s DEC(2000): +12° 10’ 01” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Globular Cluster CONSTELLATION: Pegasus BEST VIEW: Late October DISCOVERY: Jean-Dominique Maraldi, 1746 DISTANCE: 33,600 ly DIAMETER: 175 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +6.2 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 18’ NGC 7662 (THE BLUE SNOWBALL) RA(2000) : 23h 25m 53.6s DEC(2000): +42° 32’ 06” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Planetary Nebula CONSTELLATION: Andromeda BEST VIEW: Late November DISCOVERY: William Herschel, 1784 DISTANCE: 1800 – 6400 ly DIAMETER: 0.3 – 1.1 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +8.6 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 37” MESSIER 52 RA(2000) : 23h 24m 48s DEC(2000): +61° 35’ 36” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster CONSTELLATION: Cassiopeia BEST VIEW: December DISCOVERY: Charles Messier, 1774 DISTANCE: ~5000 ly DIAMETER: 19 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +7.3 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 13’ AGE: 50 million years FOV:Starry 1.00Night FOV: 60.00 Auriga Cepheus Andromeda MESSIER 31 (THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY) M 31 RA(2000) : 00h 42m 44.3Cassiopeias DEC(2000): +41° 16’ 07.5” Perseus Lacerta AndromedaM 31 FOV: 5.00 Telrad Triangulum Taurus Orion Aries Andromeda M 31 Pegasus Pisces BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Galaxy CONSTELLATION: Andromeda Telrad BEST VIEW: December DISCOVERY: Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, 964 Eridanus CetusDISTANCE: 2.5 million ly DIAMETER: ~250,000 ly* APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +3.4 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 178’ x 63’ (3° x 1°) *This value represents the total diameter of the disk, based on multi-wavelength measurements. The bright visible disk is closer to 120,000 ly. NGC 253 (THE SCULPTOR GALAXY) RA(2000) : 00h 47m 33s DEC(2000): -25° 17’ 20” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Galaxy CONSTELLATION: Sculptor BEST VIEW: December DISCOVERY: Caroline Herschel, 1783 DISTANCE: ~11 million ly DIAMETER: ~87,000 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +8.0 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 27’ x 6’ MESSIER 76 (THE LITTLE DUMBBELL NEBULA) RA(2000) : 01h 42m 20s DEC(2000): +51° 34’ 32” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Planetary Nebula CONSTELLATION: Perseus BEST VIEW: Late December DISCOVERY: Pierre Mechain, 1780 DISTANCE: ~2400 ly DIAMETER: 0.8 ly (brightest part at 2400 ly) APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +10.1 (nebula) +16.6 (central star) APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 2.7’ x 1.8’ FOV:Starry 1.00Night FOV: 60.00 Camelopardalis Auriga NGC 457 NGC 457 RA(2000) : 01h 19m 35s DEC(2000): +58° 17’ 12” Cepheus Cassiopeia NGC 457 Perseus FOV: 5.00 Telrad BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster CONSTELLATION: Cassiopeia Lacerta BEST VIEW: January DISCOVERY: William Herschel, 1787 DISTANCE: Approximately 8000 lyAndromeda Taurus DIAMETER: 30 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +6.4 Triangulum APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 13’ AGE: ~21 million years NGC 457 Aries Telrad Pegasus Pisces THE PERSEUS DOUBLE CLUSTER (NGC 869 & NGC 884) NGC 869 RA(2000): 02h 19m 00s DEC(2000): +57° 07’ 42” NGC 884 RA(2000): 02h 22m 23s DEC(2000): +57° 07’ 30” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Clusters CONSTELLATION: Perseus BEST VIEW: January DISCOVERY: Hipparchus, 130 B.C. DISTANCE: Approx. 7000 ly DIAMETER: ~200 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: 3.7 (869), 3.8 (884) APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 100’ AGE: ~13 million years MESSIER 45 (The Pleiades) RA(2000) : 03h 47m 00s DEC(2000): +24° 07’ 00” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster CONSTELLATION: Taurus BEST VIEW: Late January DISCOVERY: Known in Antiquity DISTANCE: 440 ly DIAMETER: 86 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +1.6 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 110’ AGE: ~100 million years .