Activity 8 – Jewels of the Sky

Context

Once you are familiar with the stars and constellations that you can see with the unaided eye, it is time to explore some of the most impressive binocular targets – the jewels of the night sky. A small selection of nine jewels are described here.

Locating and observing some of the jewels of the night sky is an excellent component of an organised stargazing trip. It is also an excellent individual activity.

First use your Star Wheel to find out which of the jewels are visible to you at this time of year. Do this by looking on the Star Wheel for the constellations in which the jewels are to be found. Set the Star Wheel for tonight to see if they will be visible tonight.

Next print the charts for the appropriate jewels (download here).

All of the jewels are visible to the naked eye under dark conditions, but even so binoculars will make them look so much more impressive. If there is some light pollution at your observing site, then binoculars are essential.

Star Wheels (see Activity 3 – Make a Star Wheel)
Star charts (download here)
Binoculars
Plus all of the things needed for a stargazing session (see Activity 5 – Under the Milky Way)

A group of young stars that formed together from a gas cloud. Open clusters are usually irregular in shape and contain up to several hundred stars. The youngest open clusters are still surrounded by the gas cloud from which the stars formed. Open clusters tend to break up as they get older – most last less than a few billion years as a cluster.

A roughly spherical ball of old stars (about 10 billion years old). Globular clusters typically contain hundreds of thousands of stars, and so appear as fuzzy blobs.

A cloud of gas and dust in space. A nebula can be a region of star formation, or it can be the result of a star exploding.

A group of stars held together by gravity. A large galaxy can contain up to 1,000 billion stars. Most of the space between galaxies is empty.

Also known as NGC224, and M31
This spiral galaxy is the nearest full size galaxy to our own. It is 2.3 million light years away. Apart from the Magellanic Clouds (the Magellanic Clouds are dwarf galaxies close to our own) the Andromeda Galaxy is the only galaxy visible to the naked eye, but a dark sky and good eyesight is needed. It is easily seen in binoculars. A finder chart is provided.

Also known as Seven Sisters, and M45
This open cluster contains seven stars visible to the naked eye making it one of the most recognisable star patterns in the sky. Six of the stars are easy to see, with the seventh and faintest star often difficult to see. The cluster contains more than 500 stars, many of which can be seen with binoculars. The Pleiades is shown on both City and Milky Way versions of the Star Wheel, so no separate finder chart is provided.

Also known as Praesepe, The Manger, NGC2632, and M44
This open cluster contains three stars visible to the naked eye, but a dark sky and good eyesight is needed. There are over 200 stars in the cluster. It is easily seen in binoculars. A finder chart is provided.

Also known as The Great Nebula, NGC1976, and M42
This dramatic nebula is a cloud of gas in which new stars are forming. It is 1,500 light years away. It is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy star; the middle star of Orion’s belt. The three bright stars in a straight line in Orion form Orion’s belt, and the other much fainter set of three stars in a straight line form his sword. Orion is shown on both City and Milky Way versions of the Star Wheel, so no separate finder chart is provided. See Orion Picture Book for an illustration showing which stars are the sword stars.

Also known as M13
This is the most dramatic globular cluster in the northern sky. It is 23 thousand light years away. It is only just visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy spot, but is easily seen in binoculars. A finder chart is provided.

Also known as NGC 5139
This is the brightest globular cluster in the sky. It is about 17 thousand light years away and contains about 1 million stars. It is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy blob, but a dark sky and good eyesight is needed. It is easily seen in binoculars. A finder chart is provided.

Also known as NGC3373
This is a large diffuse nebula is one of the most impressive in the sky. It requires binoculars to see it. A finder chart is provided.

Also known as IC 2602
Theta Carina is one of the four stars that make up the Diamond Cross. In Binoculars you can see that it is surrounded by an open cluster of bright stars. A finder chart is provided. There are many other magnificent open clusters in the Milky Way from the False Cross through to Sagittarius. Starting from Theta Carinae a scan in either direction along the Milky Way with binoculars will give an insight to the splendour of the night sky.

Also known as NGC 104
This globular cluster competes with Omega Centauri for the title of most splendid globular cluster in the sky. It is about 15 thousand light years away and has an especially dense centre. It is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy blob, but a dark sky and good eyesight is needed. It is easily seen in binoculars. A finder chart is provided.

To find one of the jewels, first find the constellation in which it is found. Use the Milky Way version of your Star Wheel.

Once you have found the constellation in the sky, look at the finder chart (download here), and use it to home in on your target. Get as close as you can without using the binoculars, then use the binoculars to actually find and enjoy the jewel you are looking for.

There are many more wonderful sights to be seen in the night sky using nothing more than a pair of binoculars. You can use software like Hallo Northern Sky to produce your own finder charts. A recommended book for the beginner who is just starting to explore the sky with binoculars is Skywatching by David H Levy.

	Andromeda Galaxy finder chart
	Beehive Cluster finder chart
	Hercules Cluster finder chart
	Omega Centauri finder chart
	Eta Carinae Nebula and Theta Carinae Cluster finder chart
	47 Tucanae finder chart
	Help with printing and downloading