3,000 Deep-Sky Objects: An Annotated Catalogue

564 Pages·2012·5.59 MB·English

by  Ted Aranda (auth.)

Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series

For other titles published in this series, go to
www.springer.com/series/3192

3,000 Deep-Sky
Objects
An Annotated Catalogue
Ted Aranda
Ted Aranda
Chicago, USA
[email protected]
ISSN 1431-9756
ISBN 978-1-4419-9418-9 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-9419-6
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9419-6
Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932225
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012, Corrected at 2nd printing 2012
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written
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Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
For
Our Mother, our Home, our Garden of Eden –
Our little Blue Marble in the depths of space –
And all who love her.

Preface
An amateur astronomer is observing galaxies in the constellation Cetus on a clear
night at her favorite dark site. She notices that the galaxy currently in the eyepiece
of her 12-inch telescope is considerably brighter than the previous one. It is also
much more concentrated. In general she finds the large variation in the brightness
and concentration of galaxies fascinating. But there must be something wrong. She
has observed dozens of galaxies so far but has yet to see one with a distinct core or
nucleus within its halo. Furthermore, in only a handful of galaxies has she seen any
variation in the light other than a smooth, continuous concentration toward the
center. And in these cases the irregularities have been quite vague; certainly they
have not resembled spiral arms.
Dawn is approaching. Our observer has had great fun tonight. But, once again,
as in past observing sessions, she has failed to see in any but a few galaxies even a
trace of the things that photographs show so spectacularly and routinely, that pro-
fessional astronomers study so diligently, and that observing guidebooks urge their
readers to look for so optimistically. She will try harder next time.
Clearly there is something amiss in the above scenario. But the fault lies not with
our intrepid observer, who no doubt saw many fine sights during her enchanted
night under the stars. It lies instead with a body of astronomical literature that does
not sufficiently acknowledge the vast and largely unbridgeable difference between
the photographic and the visual appearance of many types of deep-sky objects,
thereby leading dedicated observers to have unrealistic – and all too often disap-
pointed – expectations.
There are in fact numerous characteristics of deep-sky objects that our eyes
capture far better than photographs can, including the sheer dazzling brilliance of
bright stars, the great diversity among globular clusters, and the remarkable “blink-
ing effect” of many planetary nebulae. In the final analysis, although it naturally
pleases us to be able to see photographic features visually, our eyes are not CCD
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cameras and they will never operate as these machines do. But they are amazing
sense organs nonetheless, and what they show us in the night sky with the help of
our trusty telescopes is equally wonderful, beautiful, and delightful.
***
I am an unabashed binocular enthusiast. Indeed, the idea of a powerful binocular
telescope was the motive force behind this entire project. Owners of monocular
telescopes (in other words almost all amateurs astronomers) might therefore
w onder if this book is relevant to them. The answer is an unqualified yes . Whatever
telescopes we use, we visual observers are all kindred spirits. Our common goal is
to see our beloved astronomical objects as well as we can with our own eyes.
I myself started out with an ordinary 80 mm telescope and soon graduated to a
standard 10-inch Dobsonian. The 10-inch binocular telescope that I built and sub-
sequently used for this survey was the “upgrade” I finally chose for myself.
A telescope is a telescope – an instrument useful for its magnifying and light-
gathering functions. A binocular telescope is simply a particular kind of telescope.
For every binocular telescope there is a monocular telescope of somewhat larger
aperture that technically will show the same things, although the view will be less
satisfying in some ways. Telescopes come in many forms, and the question of
binocular versus monocular, like that of reflector versus refractor or apochromat
versus achromat, is just one among many design variables, albeit an especially
significant one.
Acknowledgements
Although I observe alone, I have many intellectual and spiritual companions to
thank for their contributions to my astronomical accomplishments, such as they
may be. In keeping with the amateur astronomer’s habit of perpetually making lists,
I would like to express my special gratitude to the following persons:
Emil Bonanno, for creating and perfecting MegaStar, without which this project
would not have been feasible.
The authors of telescope design and construction books, for sharing their expertise,
particularly Jean Texereau, H ow to Make a Telescope ; Harrie Rutten and Martin
van Venrooij, T elescope Optics ; Richard Berry, B uild Your Own Telescope ; Sam
Brown, A ll About Telescopes ; Peter Francis, N ewtonian Notes ; and Kenneth Novak,
Cassegrain Notes .
The editors of, and contributors to, S ky & Telescope , Astronomy , Deep Sky , and
Telescope Making magazines, for their invaluable observing and telescope making
guidance.
The authors of the leading deep-sky observing guidebooks, for expanding our
knowledge of the sky – critical though I may be of some aspects of their work.
The authors and editors of the major deep-sky catalogues, for putting the necessary
data at our fingertips.
W il Tirion, for pioneering the modern, elegant, and beautiful sky atlas.
John Dobson, for pioneering the sensible and efficient amateur telescope.
James Braginton of Coulter Optical, for leading the way in commercial Dobsonian
telescopes.
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