Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the constellation Corvus, open cluster M67, and spiral galaxy NGC 2683 this week.
Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS.
Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for you to see:
- One object you can find with your naked eyes or through binoculars
- One object to find with a small telescope
- One deep-sky object to find with an 8-inch or larger telescope for you avid astronomers
--Start transcript--
A southerly crow
This week’s first object is the small but easy-to-see constellation Corvus the Crow. This constellation only has three bordering star patterns: Virgo the Maiden lies to the north and east; Crater the Cup lies to the west; and Hydra the Water Snake sits to the south.
In size, little Corvus ranks 70th out of the 88 constellations that cover the sky. It occupies 184 square degrees — that’s only 0.45 percent of the sky.
One meteor shower’s radiant lies within Corvus. The Corvids peak June 26. The best date to see Corvus is March 28. That’s when the constellation lies opposite the Sun. It rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and is visible in the sky all night. The worst date to look for Corvus is September 27. That’s when its stars line up with the Sun.
Although Corvus has no Messier object within its borders, it’s a near miss. Just to the constellation’s north, in Virgo, is one of the best galaxies in the sky. It’s the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104. Check it out through a small or (preferably) large telescope.
Finally, you can use Corvus’ top two stars as pointers to a bright blue luminary. Draw a line from magnitude 2.6 Gienah (Gamma [γ] Corvi) through magnitude 2.9 Algorab (Delta [δ] Corvi), and extend that line 4 times the distance between the two stars, and you’ll arrive at Spica, the brightest star in Virgo.
Cancer’s “other” cluster
This week’s small telescope target is not the Beehive Cluster in Cancer. It’s that constellation’s other open cluster, M67 (pictured above at right, courtesy Anthony Ayiomamitis). You’ll find it easily through binoculars or a small telescope 1.7° due west of magnitude 4.3 Alpha (α) Cancri.
Through a 4-inch telescope, you’ll resolve roughly 2 dozen stars in M67 across an area two-thirds the width of the Full Moon. Increase the aperture to 6 inches, and 50 stars will shine forth.
A dozen of M67’s stars shine brighter than 11th magnitude. When you view the Beehive through a telescope, you’ll note the yellow star on its northeastern edge. Identified as SAO 98178, this star shines at magnitude 7.8 but is not a member of the cluster.
Diamond in the rough
This week’s deep-sky object lies in a constellation even more difficult to find than Cancer — Lynx. The obscure star group lies due north of Cancer and stretches to the northwest from there.
NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy, and a relatively bright one at that. Shining at magnitude 9.8, you can spot it through a 3-inch telescope from a dark observing site. To pull out its details, however, you’ll need a bigger scope.
This galaxy is a classic edge-on spiral that orients exactly northeast to southwest. It appears more than three times as long as it is wide with an extended, bright central region.
The faint spiral arms begin to show alternate dark and bright patches called mottling through a 12-inch telescope. Through even larger scopes, you’ll notice that the northeastern arm extends a bit farther than the southwestern one.
---End transcript--
Previous episode: Head of Hydra, NGC 1981, and NGC 1999
Previous transcript