3 Great Sky Objects for a Small Telescope
Get a Closer Look at Orion, the Pleiades and Andromeda
Aug 4, 2009
Three sky objects that are quite exciting to see are available for viewing through a small telescope. When observed under dark skies, Orion, the Pleiades and Andromeda look even more detailed and will offer a wonderful night of entertainment for any astronomy buff.
All that is needed is any small telescope, or even a good pair of binoculars and an unobstructed view of the night's sky. These viewing tips are targeted for stargazers in most of the Continental United States.
Observing Orion and the Orion Nebula
Orion is a prominent constellation that is often mistaken for the Big Dipper. The most notable stars in the system are similar in shape as the Dipper, forming an elongated square. However, Orion takes a different path in the sky and it is best seen during the late fall and winter months.
The Orion constellation can be found by looking midway up the southeastern sky around 8 pm in the winter. Through the night, Orion keeps moving towards the western sky. When spring closes in, Orion can be seen further and further west in the evenings, until it sets before dark as summer approaches.
The best feature to look for is the Orion Nebula, which can even be seen as a fuzzy patch with the naked eye. Viewed through a small telescope much more detail can be captured including the stars responsible for the nebula's glow. They form the shape of a trapezoid nuzzled right inside of the nebula.
Astronomers have recently reported that Orion has a very busy stellar nursery; young stars are blasting jets of gas everywhere. Chris Davis of the Joint Astronomy Center in Hawaii explained in the April 19, 2009 Reuters article titled "Orion hides busy star 'nursery': astronomers", that this nursery is very chaotic and extremely overcrowded with stars. More on this new finding can be found in "New Observations of the Orion Nebula".
The Pleiades Star Cluster
This cluster of stars is also known as The Seven Sisters because seven stars is what can be seen with the unaided eye. Using a small telescope the number of stars that are visible in the cluster comes close to 100. An eerie glow is also visible surrounding the prominent seven stars, which is caused by dust particles inside a gas cloud crashing with the Pleiades.
Steve Gibson from the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico says in his online report "The Pleiades", that the cluster can be found above and to the right of Orion facing south. It is best seen at 4 am in January, midnight in November or 8 pm in January when it is at its highest point in the sky.
In a November 14, 2007 UCLA Newsroom article titled "Planets Forming in Pleiades Star Cluster, Astronomers Report", Stuart Wolpert reports a recent finding by astronomers that rocky terrestrial planets appear to be forming or have recently formed around one of the stars in the Pleiades cluster. This makes it more feasible that other solar systems can be quite common throughout the universe.
Looking at the Andromeda Galaxy
Galaxies are very exciting to observe, but can be hard to locate in the sky. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest one to the Milky Way, lying over two million light years away. It is so large that its glowing fuzzy light is about the size of five full moons as seen from Earth, even with the naked eye from a dark location. Knowing exactly where to point the telescope can facilitate being able to view this galaxy successfully.
Locating Andromeda can be done by finding W-shaped Cassiopeia, which lies across the North Star. Then, using the V-shape on the right side as an arrow pointing down, Andromeda lies 15 degrees from the tip of the 'V arrow' and a little to the right. At midnight in mid October, and two hours earlier with each passing month, Andromeda crosses the top of the sky. It is also very visible in the early evening towards the east in September and setting to the west at twilight in February.
The first planet outside of the Milky Way galaxy may actually have been spotted in Andromeda. Astronomers believe that they have discovered a planet by using the microlensing method to detect it. Paul Sutherland of Skymania.com reported on a June 14th, 2009 Scientific American article titled "Planet 'spotted' in Andromeda Galaxy", that computer simulations along other calculations suggest that they evidently did observe a star with a planet sized companion that's six times bigger than Jupiter.
Viewing far away sky objects with even a small telescope is quite possible. It also helps to make the observable Universe more accessible and easier to fathom. Understanding the cosmos is something humans have wanted to do for millennia; with simple instruments, such as a small telescope, man can be this much closer to the Universe.
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