My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 04.2019

A FAR NORTHERN MARATHON (CONTINUED) Object Constellation Type Mag(v) Size/Sep. RA Dec. OC 6.9 9′ 18 h 19.9 m – 17° 08′ Sgr — COMMENT: Naked eye star cloud 4.6 90′ 18 h 16.9 m – 18° 29′ Sgr COMMENT: Binoculars M18 M24 M23 Sgr COMMENT: Binoculars OC 5.5 27′ 17 h 56.8 m – 19° 01′ M25 Sgr COMMENT: Binoculars OC 4.6 32′ 18 h 31.6 m – 19° 15′ Sgr COMMENT: Binoculars GC 5.1 32′ 18 h 36.4 m – 23° 54′ Sgr EN COMMENT: Naked eye or binoculars — 90′ × 40′ 18 h 03.8 m – 24° 23′ M22 M8 M20 Sgr COMMENT: Binoculars EN 6.3 28′ 18 h 02.6 m – 23° 02′ Sgr COMMENT: Binoculars OC 5.9 13′ 18 h 04.6 m – 22° 30′ 4.2 25′ 17 h 40.1 m – 32° 13′ Sco OC 3.3 80′ COMMENT: Naked eye or binoculars just as it rises 17 h 53.9 m – 34° 49′ Sgr GC COMMENT: Probably needs a scope 6.8 11.2′ 18 h 24.5 m – 24° 52′ M15 Peg GC 6.2 18′ 21 h 30.0 m + 12° 10′ M2 Aqr GC 6.5 16′ 21 h 33.5 m – 00° 49′ M21 p SOUTHERN STAR CLUSTER The globular cluster M62 in Ophiuchus is another good place to take a break. Does M62 look slightly brighter in its southeast quadrant? It’s one of the closest globulars to the center of the Milky Way, and the distribution of its stars is being affected by galactic tidal forces. Sco OC COMMENT: Naked eye or binoculars M6 M7 M28 the Sun at –14°. I detected M55 with motion and some reso- lution at 91× with my 8-inch Newtonian. From Calgary at 51°N Tom Cameron recorded 104 with a 12-inch reﬂector on April 1–2, 1995. From the Prince George Astronomical Observatory at 54°N Doug Wayland found 96 on March 16–17, 2002. He enjoyed clear skies due to an Arctic high pressure ridge, but consider this quote: “I found myself having to wait for objects to rise, which was a blessing, as that gave me a chance to warm up. I never got totally warm though and I felt chilled. Fortunately the wind stopped, but –20°C is still very cold even without the wind.” Doug missed M74 and M77 in the evening due to trees, and M6, M7, the Aquarius objects, and the southern Sagittarius globulars in the morning due to his high latitude and an early marathon. If the weather cooperates this April, how many Messiers will you bag from your latitude? Morning twilight rush; on April 5th at latitude 49°N, astronomical twilight begins at 4:37 a.m. daylight-saving time at the central meridian for your time zone COMMENT: Aqr — 9.0 COMMENT: Asterism; star-hop to M72 from here 3′ 20 h 58.9 m – 12° 38′ Aqr GC COMMENT: More difﬁ cult than M73 9.3 7′ 20 h 53.5 m – 12° 32′ M75 Sgr GC 8.6 7′ 20 h 06.1 m – 21° 55′ M54 Sgr GC 7.7 12′ 18 h 55.1 m – 30° 29′ M73 M72 Sgr GC 7.9 8′ 18 h 43.2 m – 32° 18′ COMMENT: Don’t confuse with NGC 6652, which lies between M69 and M70 M70 7.7 10′ 18 h 31.4 m – 32° 21′ 6.3 19′ 19 h 40.0 m – 30° 58′ ¢ Contributing Editor ALAN WHITMAN’s bucket list includes Sgr GC COMMENT: Very tough on April 5th doing a Messier Marathon from southern Arizona. M30 Cap 7.2 12′ 21 h 40.4 m – 23° 11′ M69 Sgr GC M55 FURTHER READING: Do you want to report your Marathon results, or read reports from previous marathons? Visit messier. seds.org/xtra/marathon/results.html for marathon results dating back to 1977. Read Doug Wayland’s report of his first Messier Marathon at astrobuysell.com/paul/wayland.htm Ǥ COMMENT: GC Not visible G = galaxy; GC = globular cluster; OC = open cluster; EN = emission nebula; RN = refl ection nebula; PN = planetary nebula; SNR = supernova remnant. Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object’s size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnifi cation of the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0. sk yandtele scope.com • A PR I L 2 019 33

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