Sky & Telescope - February 2024 - 32

Star Party List
latitudes. Sculptor harbors some of the most beautiful barred
spiral galaxies in the entire sky, and first up on our list - as
it will set very early - is NGC 55. It's a large galaxy some 32′
long and at 8th magnitude is easily observed even in small
telescopes. In larger scopes, look for knots in the spiral arms
and a dust lane close to the core. Robert Burnham, Jr., in his
classic Burnham's Celestial Handbook, calls NGC 55 " one of
the outstanding galaxies of the southern heavens. " For those
star-hopping, you'll readily find it 3¾° northwest of 2.4-magnitude
Alpha (α) Phoenicis.
Next jump north to NGC 253 in Sculptor, another bright,
29′-long galaxy located a bit more than 7° degrees south of
2nd-magnitude Beta (β) Ceti. This galaxy, normally low in
northern skies, now is glorious and - at magnitude 7.2 -
easy to snag in any size telescope.
After this, we'll turn to Fornax, starting with the impressive
galaxy NGC 1097. Find this 9.5-magnitude beauty by
locating 4.5-magnitude Beta Fornacis, then slewing a smidgen
more than 2° north-northwest. Smaller apertures will
reveal the large, 9′-long central bar, but even with a modest
scope in dark sky you should be able to spot the two fainter
spiral arms emanating from either end of the bar.
Now, let's go to one of my favorite galaxies in the entire sky:
the classic NGC 1365, an incredible 10th-magnitude barred
spiral with widely splayed-out arms. Find this target by centerFROM
DUSK TIL DAWN This sky tour is designed so you can
observe all night long from more southerly latitudes. Should you plan to
attend the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys in February, that would
be a great place to use this guide.
VIRGO
-10°
α
M104
CORVUS
γ
α
-20°
γ
M83
-30°
β
ι
CENTAURUS
-40°
5128
5139
4945
µ
-50°
ε
ξ1
13h
γ
12h
32 FEBRUARY 2024 * SKY & TELESCOPE
11h
10h
9h
8 CARINA 7h
h
q
VELA
3201
2736
λ
ANTLIA
α
PYXIS
β
π
α
PUPPIS
β
M68
α
β
ξ
M93
δ
2292
ε
2293
δ
ν
HYDRA
µ
CRATER
λ
2438
M46
CANIS
MAJOR
M41
2359
M47
α
ing on 4.2-magnitude g Eridani (itself a nice orange star), then
point west some 3.2°. I can readily detect the 11′-long central
bar in my 6-inch scope with a magnification of 100×, but a
16-inch scope will reveal the galaxy's far-flung spiral arms.
To bring this run of galaxies to conclusion, we'll head
north into Eridanus to get to the impressive barred spiral
NGC 1300. This beautiful, 10.4-magnitude galaxy is smaller
in overall size at 6′ than the previous targets, but you should
have no difficulty detecting it in an 8-inch scope at magnification
120×. To find it, locate the yellow, 3.7-magnitude star
τ4 Eridani and then slew directly north some 2.3°.
You can guess by now that I'm partial to galaxies, but let's
return to Fornax for something different - NGC 1360, the
Robin's Egg Nebula, a fairly large and bright (magnitude 9.4)
planetary wider than 6′ in diameter. In more light-polluted
areas use an O III filter; under a dark sky the filter will show
subtle detail, and you should easily see the central star. For
best results, use an 8-inch telescope at magnification 120×.
The planetary shines a pleasing blue-green hue, and you'll
find it by extending the line joining Beta to Alpha (α) Fornacis
toward the northeast by almost the same distance.
In the Middle of the Night
By this point in the night, Orion is on the meridian. If you
must take your 1,000th view of M42, go ahead and enjoy it,
but make it a brief visit so that you can explore other objects
in the winter Milky Way south of there.
Start with a double galaxy in Canis Major. From 2ndmagnitude
Delta (δ) Canis Majoris, nudge due west 4.6° and
M48
α
MON
α
θ
M50
β
Sky & Telescope - February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - February 2024
