Podcast: Night-sky targets for February 20-27, 2009
Beehive Cluster, open cluster M50, and the Rosette Nebula are nicely visible in this week's sky.
By
Michael E. Bakich —
Published:
February 19, 2009 The Beehive Cluster is a stellar gathering 40 light-years across and some 577 light-years away. From that distance, our Sun would be faintly visible in small telescopes as an 11th-magnitude speck.
Various sources put the cluster’s age at about 700 million years.
Photo by Tom Bash and John Fox/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
In each episode, Michael highlights:
- One object you can see without any optical aid
- One object you can see with a small (4-inch) telescope
- One object you can see with at least an 8-inch telescope
Targets for February 20-27, 2009
Naked eye: Beehive Cluster
Small telescope: Open cluster M50
8-inch or larger telescope: The Rosette Nebula |
Expand your observing with these tools from Astronomy.com
Podcast transcript
This episode's transcript contains additional links to resources within Astronomy.com to help your observing. |
StarDome
Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. This tool will help you locate this week's targets.
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Observing talk
After you listen to the podcast and try to find the objects, be sure to share your observing experiences with us by leaving a comment at the blog or in the Reader forums. |
Previous episodes:
- February 13-20, 2009: Open cluster M41, the Tau Canis Majoris Cluster, and Thor's Helmet
- February 6-13, 2009: Canis Minor, M78, and the Witch Head Nebula
- January 30-February 6, 2009: Heavenly G, NGC 2112, and the Double Bubble Nebula
- January 23-30, 2009: Lepus, the Crab Nebula, and the Raspberry Nebula
- January 16-23, 2009: twin stars Castor and Pollux, the 9-12 Geminorum Cluster, and the Eskimo Nebula
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