Bright Nebulae in the Northern Hemisphere Winter Sky

 

IC405 The Flaming Star Nebula
in the constellation Auriga.
 Seestar S30, 660x10 sec exposures
 F5 and f=150mm.
Credit: Kurt Thrust

The Running Man Nebular NGC 1977 and
 the Great Orion Molecular Cloud Messier 42.
Seestar S30, 660x10 sec exposures
 F5 and f=150mm. 
Credit: Joel Cairo

Messier 78 or NGC 2068 is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. Data Credit: COAST Robotic telescope BVR filters, Mount Teide Tenerife, telescope.org,
 Open Observatories, Open University. Image Credit: Pip Stakkert.

" Messier 42, the 'Great Orion Nebula', is the only one of the above, which may be seen with the naked eye or even better in binoculars. It is visible as a hazy blob within Orion's Dagger, which hangs down from the band of three stars known as Orion's belt. At this time of year the Constellation is visible from the Northern Hemisphere striding above the southern horizon. The Nebula is a nearby stellar nursery where new stars are forming from the gravitational collapse of cold hydrogen gas. Very young and intensely bright stars may be seen in our image in the bright central area, which is named the 'Trapezium'. M 42 is 1350 light years distant so when I said 'nearby' this was in 'astronomer speak'.

IC495, the 'Flaming Star Nebula' is both an emission and reflection nebula but is not visible to the naked eye. It is however, possible to see the irregular variable star AE Aurigae, which shines at its centre, with binoculars. 

Messier 78 is a reflection nebula located within the constellation but sadly is invisible to the naked eye. Gas and dust in this area reflect the ultra violet light generated by nearby young energetic blue stars.

The whole team at the Jodrell Plank Observatory enjoy using the Seestar S30 , which is a very user friendly device well suited to the beginner astro-imager.

 - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory. 

Whats up in January 2018

The Rosette Nebula and open star cluster NGC 2244 - Taken with the Observatory 127mm Meade Apo-refractor - 0.8x focal reducer and field flattener, Canon 600D DSLR guided with a QHY5-L11 guide camera - image by Pip Stakkert.

" After an extended period of bad weather and 'Christmas festive activities', opening up the observatory for a night and early morning of observing and imaging, made for a pleasant change.
What a wonderful night it was, clear skies over Lowestoft from noon on 07 to the early hours of 08 January 2018. Winter in the northern hemisphere provides a number of treats for the astronomer and astro-imager, amongst them; the Rosette Nebula in the constellation Monoceros the Unicorn, the Orion Molecular Cloud- Messier 42 and the Pleiades open star cluster in the constellation Taurus. In addition a faint comet is currently visible amongst the stars of Taurus.
The open cluster NGC 2244 was first discovered in 1690 by the astronomer John Flamsteed. It is approximately 5000 light years distant and comprises young energetic stars emitting copious amounts of ionizing ultra-violet radiation. The nebula, glowing red, is a region of interstellar  ionised atomic hydrogen. In this case hot class 'O' stars have blown an ionized 'bubble' in the gas. Many new born stars are currently hidden within the cloud but eventually stellar radiation will blow the clouds away to reveal their presence at optical wavelengths. NGC 2244 may be seen with binoculars and small telescopes but spotting the nebula visually requires a larger telescope and a dark site. The red colour of the nebula is only revealed by photography". Archie Mendes - visiting astrophysicist at the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The Pleiades or Messier 45 - Taken with the Observatory 66mm Altair Astro -Doublet refractor - 0.8x focal reducer and field flattener, Canon 600D DSLR guided with a QHY5-L11 guide camera - image by Kurt Thrust.

"The Pleiades, also known as the 'Seven Sisters', is a nearby open star cluster thought to have formed some 100 million years ago from a nebula similar to the Orion Molecular Cloud. It is moving through an unrelated cloud of interstellar dust some 440 light years distant in the constellation Taurus. The central part of the cluster may be contained within a radius of 8 light years. Hot 'B' type stars are very luminous and their blue starlight reflects off the dust through which they are travelling creating a 'reflection nebula'.  The stars are linked by gravity and share a common proper motion but it is estimated that the cluster will only survive for another 250 million years after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighbourhood. catch it whilst you can!  - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The Orion Nebula or Messier 42,  part of the Orion Molecular Cloud -taken with the Observatory 66mm Altair Astro -Doublet refractor - 0.8x focal reducer and field flattener, Canon 600D DSLR guided with a QHY5-L11 guide camera - image by Kurt Thrust.

Credit for computer generated 3D journey: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, M. Robberto and M. Gennaro (STScI), and R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC).

"This visualization is an excerpt from a longer sequence that explores the Orion Nebula using both visible and infrared light. Two correlated computer models were created based on visible-light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and infrared-light observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views. The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high-energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster. The infrared observations generally show cooler temperature gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image. In addition, the infrared showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths. The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including the wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped proplyds. In this manner, the movie illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy." NASA

"The Orion Nebula, Messier 42 or NGC 1976 is visible to the naked eye as a blurry star in the middle of 'Orion's Dagger' hanging below Orion's Belt.  It is one of the brightest nebula in the sky and at a distance of approximately 1350 light years, it is the nearest massive region of star formation to Earth.The Orion Nebula has revealed details about star formation in collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers using large and satellite telescopes have directly observed proto planetary discs, brown dwarf stars, the turbulent motion of gas and the ionizing effects of young massive stars in the nebula"
- Archie Mendes - visiting astrophysicist at the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Comet C/2016 R2 PanSTARRS - Taken with the Observatory 127mm Meade Apo-refractor - 0.8x focal reducer and field flattener, Canon 600D DSLR guided with a QHY5-L11 guide camera - image by Pip Stakkert.

Comet C/2016 R2 PanSTARRS - Enlarged image -1x3 min subs with Colour filters -taken with the PIRATE Robotic Telescope -13 January 2018 (02:19:31 UTC) - on Mount Teide - -image by Kurt Thrust - Credit: telescope.org -Open University

"At Magnitude 13.45 this comet requires a good telescope to see it clearly. The above top image was taken as it passed by the open star cluster 'The Hyades' - off on its vast journey into the depths of space". - Archie Mendes - visiting astrophysicist at the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

" After an incident at the Jodrell Plank Observatory Christmas Party and by mutual agreement,  Mr. Ronald Clump will have no further connection with The Observatory, its professional staff, its premises and the Board of Trustees.  Our current Director, 'Kurt Thrust' will, until further notice, be acting CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory". - Doris Jansen on behalf of the The Board of Trustees