haunting
beauties
This year, the festive and frightful
Halloween holiday falls on a Saturday
night, which means it will be a perfect
time to stay up late to check out some
of our night sky’s eeriest treats. The
following is a list of some of the most
popular spooky sights that dot the
universe. Not all of these will be visible
from all latitudes, but even if you cannot
view them from the field, they are all
worth checking out virtually.
Witch Head Nebula
Our haunting cosmic journey
begins with a celestial witch
hunt in Eridanus, which is
visible from 32° North to
90° South. In this sprawling
constellation, a faint but
striking reflection nebula
conjures up the image of
an old crone. A great target
for astrophotography, the
appropriately named Witch
Head Nebula has a mesmerizing
blue glow that adds to its creepy
quotient. The likely source of
this illumination is the nearby
blue supergiant Rigel, which is
a main attraction in the Orion
constellation.
COURTESY OF ADAM BLOCK, MOUNT LEMMON SKYCENTER, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
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COURTESY OF NASA, ESA, HEIC, AND THE
HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)
As complicated as the creature it is associated with,
the Cat’s Eye Nebula is a bright planetary nebula
that peers out of the night sky near the North Ecliptic
Pole with an ominous blue-green glow. Although you
can see it in modest telescopes, you will need to use
high magnification to reveal any hints of its highly
complex structure, which includes curving brown
lines and radiating circles. Most will see it as a bluegreen disc with a blazing central star. The nebula,
which is located in the Draco constellation, is a great
choice for a long-exposure photo.
When it comes to
nebulae, several are
associated with ghosts,
but there is one that is
particularly unsettling.
The Ghost Nebula
looms in the Northern
Hemisphere’s Cepheus
constellation, which is
in a prime observation
position in November.
This wispy reflection
nebula manifests an
intriguing brownish color
around its edges. To one
side of its brighter core,
dark dust clouds appear as
figures straining to break
free. On the opposite edge
a large dark cloud swirls
around a glowing center
and could be a harbinger
of a binary star system in
the making.
Owl Nebula
COURTESY OF NASA/STSCI DIGITIZED SKY SURVEY/NOEL CARBONI
Cat’s Eye Nebula
Ghost Nebula
Sky’s
Up
As the Northern Hemisphere eases into
fall, Ursa Major’s popular Owl Nebula
has definite autumnal appeal. Found
below the bowl of the constellation’s
famed Big Dipper asterism, the Owl
Nebula is a planetary nebula that
appears as a greenish disk marred by
two dark voids that give the object its
owl-like appearance. These “eyes”
show up nicely in an 8-inch telescope,
and the white dwarf that lurks between
them reveals itself in a slightly larger
telescope. Long-exposure photos will
render a reddish outline around the
green-hued core.
COURTESY OF MARK SIBOLE
Sky’s
Up
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