The Complete CD Guide to the Universe: Practical Astronomy

127 Pages·2007·5.61 MB·English

by  Richard Harshaw (auth.)

Richard Harshaw
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Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series
i
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The Complete
CD Guide to
the Universe
Practical Astronomy
Richard Harshaw
With31Figures
iii
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RichardHarshaw
StardeckObservatory,KansasCity,MO,USA
1817NE83rdStreet
KansasCity64118
Email,personal:[email protected]
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LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2006940068
PatrickMoore’sPracticalAstronomySeries
ISBN-10:0-387-46893-5 e-ISBN-10:0-387-46895-1
ISBN-13:978-0-387-46893-8 e-ISBN-13:978-0-387-46895-2
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iv
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Tomybestfriendandconstantcompanion,mywifeLoretta,whoindulgesmy
crazypursuitofoneofthegreatesthobbiesintheworld.Sheputsupwithodd
hours,strangetravelplans,anunfathomablepursuitofgadgetsandgizmos,
andanincomprehensiblevocabularyofstellarandgalacticterminology.Yet
shealwayshasagentlewayofbringingmebacktoearthandtakingthetime
toenjoythesimpledailypleasuresoflifetoo.
Tomygranddaughter,Alexis.Herfive-year-oldcuriosityandendlessparade
of questions sometimes wears Grandpa down, but never do I tire of her
desiretoknow.Ihopethedaycomeswhenshecantakeuptheobservations
oftheskiesoverherheadonherown.Untilthen,Iamheretoguideyou,
sweetheart.Iloveyoumorethantwohundredbilliongalaxies!
v
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Contents
Preface.......................................................... ix
Foreword........................................................ xiii
1. FirstLight .................................................... 1
2. AstronomicalMechanics......................................... 7
3. SeeingBeyondtheObvious....................................... 11
4. DoubleStarsGalore!............................................ 17
5. Deep-SkyObjects............................................... 33
6. FramingthePicture............................................. 39
7. MapsandZones................................................ 43
8. KudostotheGuilty............................................. 45
9. HowtoUsetheCD-ROM ........................................ 49
Appendix........................................................ 61
Index .......................................................... 119
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Preface
Ifyouarelookingforabookfullof“eyecandy”—stunningcelestialimagesthatcan
inspireyourimaginationandinduceasenseofaweatthegrandscaleofourmarvelous
universe—thisbookisnotforyou.
Ifyouarelookingforagood“coffeetable”booktolayoutonyourlivingroomfur-
nituresoguestscanthumbthroughthebeautifulpagesandperhapsaskyouquestions
aboutwhatthebookcontains—thisbookisnotforyoueither.
Butifyouarelookingforabookthatcanhelpyouobservemoreoftheheavensthan
youeverthoughtpossible,thenthisbookmightbewhatyourarelookingfor.
I wrote this book after I upgraded my telescope and found myself with a much
largeruniversetoobservethanIhadbefore.HowdoIplananobservingprogram
thatcanhelpmemakethemostofmylimitedtimeandsqueezethemostoutofmy
newpieceoffinelyfiguredglass?
It soon dawned on me that observing the sky by constellation—which is a very
popularoption—wasnot,intheSpockiansense,“logical”tomeasmanyrichparts
oftheskyspillovertheartificialconstellationboundariespeoplehaveassignedtothe
sky. (For example, the Winter Milky Way sprawls across several constellations and
if you are pursuing, let us say, open clusters along the Milky Way’s mid-plane, you
mayleaveoutseveralexcellentviewsifyoulimityourselftoCanisMajor,orOrion.)
Idecidedtodividetheskyinto“zones”andstudyitbyzoneasthecombinationof
seasons, weather, and lunar cycles permitted. The result is the format you will use
inthisbook.(Theastutereaderwillaccusemeofsubstitutingonesetofman-made
boundarylinesforanother,towhichIreply.
True!Yougotme!ButthezonesIusearemuchsmallerthantheconstellationsso
youcanspendanentireeveninginasmallpartoftheskyandreallyenjoyallithasto
offeratwhateverpaceyouwishtouse.
Indeed, some zones—which measure one hour of right ascension in width and
10degreesofdeclinationinheight—maytakeyoufourorfivenights,ormore,tofully
explore!)
All of the observations reported in this observing guide were made from suburban
locations.Onlyasmallnumber(lessthan2%)weremadefromtruly“darkskysites,”
andthoserecordswillbenotedwhenyouencounterthem.
From1987to1990,ImademyobservationsinColumbia,MissouriusingaCelestron
C-8. Columbia at that time was a city of about 100,000 people. My residence was
located on the southwest edge of town which put most of the light dome from the
citytomyeastandnorth.Thiswasfortunatebecausealong,lowridgelaybetween
myhomeandthecity.Thisridgewashighenoughtoblockoutthemajorityofthe
trulyoffensivenightglow,withonlyasmallfringeoffaintskyglowextendingupto
about20degreesabovethehorizon.ButsinceIdidnothaveaclearviewoftheeastern
skyfrommyresidence,Ididnotneedtoobserveinthatdirectionanyway.Myviews
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x Preface
overhead,totheNorth,South,andWestwereclearwithskiesoftenhavinganaked
eyelimitingmagnitudeof5.8to6.0.
In1990,ImovedtoKansasCity,MOandbuiltahomeonthenorthsideofthecity.I
waslocatedabout12milesduenorthofthecenterofthecity,withadecenthorizonall
aroundme.Buttheawfulskyglowfromthemillionsofwattsofhigh-pressuresodium
streetlightingwasmuchmoreoffensivethanthemodestglowofColumbia.Somy
◦
southern sky below about –20 declination is almost always awash in a hopelessly
brightglow.SkiestotheEastandWestarebetter,thezenithgood,andtheNortheven
better.Onagoodnightfrommylocation,thelimitednakedeyemagnitudecanreach
aslowas5.5,butusually4.0orsoonatypicalnight(atthezenith).
In2000,IpurchasedaCelestronC-11andhavebeenobservingwithiteversince.
Mymainpointtoallofthisisthateverythingdescribedinthisbookcanbeobserved
from suburban sites with instruments of moderate aperture. Huge “light buckets” or
wonderfully dark skies are not a requirement to detect the wonderful treasures de-
scribedinthisbook.Theyhelp,ofcourse,butthefactisthatyoucanobservealotof
thingsintheskyfromevenbrightlylitsuburbansites.Seethediscussiononobserving
galaxiesinChapter3.)
Inthisguide,youwillhavedescriptionsof13,238objectsviewedfromthesitesI
previouslydescribed.Themajorityofthem—10,738—aredoubleormultiplestars.
Thebalance—2,500—are“deepsky”objects(asifdoublestarswerenotinthe“deep
sky”!).
Doublestarsdominatethisworkforseveralreasons.First,forthemodestaperture
telescope,therearefarmoreofthemthananythingelseinthesky.TheWashington
DoubleStarCatalog(orWDSasamateursoftencallit)isconsideredtobethestandard
doublestarreferenceinthebusinesstoday.Itlistswellover100,000pairs.Ifwefilter
the WDS and remove from it those pairs that are (a) too faint to see in scopes of
11-inchesorlessaperture,(b)tooclosetoseparateinsuchinstruments,and(c)too
far south to be seen from the north 40th parallel, we end up with about 20,000
pairs. I have chosen 10,596 of the best and have not included another 8000 or so
pairs I have observed that are just too faint or difficult to be of much interest to
a general observer. As much as possible, I have tried to include only true binary
stars, not just chance alignments of two stars that happen to “look” close together.
(Forthatreason,manyofthepopular“double”starsyoumayseeonsomelistsare
not included in this book.) Where a pair is in doubt, I will make remarks to that
effect.
Second,doublestarsareusuallybrightenoughtobeeasilyobservedfromevenurban
sites.Doublestarscanoftenbeseeninhazy,murky,moonlitskies,andintypesof
weatherthatrendergalaxies,planetarynebulae,andotherfaintandextendedobjects
simplyinvisible.
The deep sky objects include many galaxies (1573 of them), and the point to be
madeisthatalthoughdarkskysiteshelpintrackingdownandbaggingtheseelusively
faintblotchesoflight,manyofthemcanstillbeobservedinwhatmostamateurswould
writeoffashopelessskiesforthetask.True,darkskiesrevealmoredetailingalaxies
thansuburbanskies,butdonotthinkthatsuburbanskiesmeanyourgalaxy-hunting
effortswillbelimitedtoahandfulofbrightMessierobjects!
Youwillalsofind580openclustersatyourdisposal,109globularclusters,148plan-
etarynebulae,andahandfulofotherinterstellarandintergalacticstuff.
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Preface xi
Ifyouareanurbanorsuburbanamateurwithlimitedobservingtimeandwantto
getthemostoutofyourtelescope,letthisbookguideyoutoallthetreasuresthatare
withinyourgrasp.Ipromiseyouarichandrewardingjourneyandmemoriestolast
morethanalifetime!
RichardHarshaw
KansasCity,MO
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Foreword
This is a book and CD-ROM for people with a telescope and who are interested
inanorganizedstudyofthewondrousnightsky,includingitsdoublestars,clusters,
nebulae,andgalaxies.Whilethereareotherbookscoveringthesetopicsintheamateur
literature,thisoneisbettersuitedtotheamateurastronomerwantingtoobservethe
skywithasystematicsystemandkeeptrackoftheirobservations.
Thisworkstartsoutwiththeauthorrecallinghisearlyinterestinastronomy(he
hasbeenwatchingthenightskyforover40years)andworksuptothetopicsthat
giveabetterunderstandingofthebookandhowtogetmoreoutofobserving.There
are some recommendations for supplemental reading if needed. Some important
basicsarecoveredtogivethereaderafoundationfortheremainderofthebookand
CD-ROM.
A major theme of this book (and of the author’s lifelong observing pursuits) is
doublestars.Thereisinformationonwhatmeasurementsapplytoadoublestarand
howtheyaremade,stellarcolor,andthedynamicnatureofbinarysystems.Included
isahelpfulanddetaileddiscussiononthenamingand“coding”ofdoublestars.There
arebiographicalthumbnailsofsomeofthemoreimportantdoublestarobservers—a
veryinterestinghistoricalfootnote!Finally,thereisadiscussionabouttheuseofscale
modelsfordoublesinakineticattempttohelptheobservergetafeelforwhatheor
sheisobservingwhenviewingabinarystarsystem.
Buttherearealsoarichhostofdeepskyobjectslistedthroughoutthebook.Here
youwillfindanexplanationofthenomenclatureofgalaxies,openclusters,globular
clusters,andplanetarynebulae.
Afterallofthisintroductorymaterial,therealmeatofthebookbegins—howto
usetheCD-ROM.Thereare,altogether,about13,000pagesofmaterialontheCD
andalittletimeandcarespentearlyonlearninghowtonavigateitwillsavethereader
agreatdealoftimelater.
The heart of the system is in the finder charts and observing catalogs. There are
foursectionsofmapsandcatalogs,oneforeachseason.Eachseasonalsectionisthen
dividedintozonesforeachhourofrightascensionand10degreesofdeclination,down
to−40degrees.
Itisinthezoneswhereyouwillfindthemostinterestingdata.Eachzone,inAdobe
Acrobat(PDF)formatincludesdetailedmapscoveringitsownareaofsky.(Forthose
whodonothaveAdobeAcrobatReaderinstalledontheircomputers,theCDhasthe
Readerinstallationprogramonit.]AuniquefeatureofRichard’sworkisthatallmaps
(excepttheZoneMasterMap)aregiventwice—onemapbeinga“normal”imageand
theothera“mirror”imageforuseatthetelescope.Forthosewhohaveevertriedto
mentallyreverseorinvertafieldfromafinderchartwhileatthetelescope,thesheer
easeandutilityofthemirrorimagechartsshouldbringatearofjoytoyoureyes.(Just
donotletthatteardropontoyoureyepiece....)
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