Sky & Telescope - March 2024 - 25

We'll end our tour with M101, which is a fitting finale
indeed. M101 is perhaps the archetype of the grand-design
spiral with its majestic, sweeping arms. Look for the 7.9-magnitude
galaxy at the apex of a nearly 4.5°-tall equilateral
triangle pointing northeast from a base defined by Zeta (ζ)
Ursae Majoris, or Mizar, and Eta (η) Ursae Majoris, or Alkaid.
M101 can be difficult to snag in light-polluted skies due to its
rather low surface brightness, but under good conditions a
4-inch telescope will readily show the bright core surrounded
by a large, faint glow. An 8-inch telescope should reveal some
definition in the spiral arms, which can be traced as a series
of bright knots. Ten of these H II regions have individual
NGC designations.
In August 2011, an automated survey detected a Type Ia
supernova (SN 2011fe) in M101, which quickly brightened to
almost 10th magnitude. The supernova was the highlight of
star parties for most of September that year, including for me.
I first observed it through a friend's 25-inch Dob in Coinjock,
North Carolina, on September 3rd. Later that month,
I shared views of it at a couple of public outreach events at
Northwest River Park in Chesapeake, Virginia, through my
Great Bear Galaxies
Object
Alternate ID
NGC 2768
NGC 2841
M81
M82
NGC 3077
NGC 2976
IC 2574
NGC 3184
NGC 3198
NGC 3675
NGC 3726
NGC 3631
M108
M109
NGC 3953
NGC 3893
NGC 3938
NGC 4051
NGC 4605
NGC 5322
M101
NGC 3031
NGC 3034
The Garland
18-inch. My final look came on the 29th at the No Frills Star
Party at Tuckahoe State Park on Maryland's Eastern Shore. By
then it was low in the west at the end of twilight, making for
a suitable farewell.
It's galvanizing to consider that, besides IC 2574, all of the
objects we've visited were discovered visually. Even more rousing
is the fact that William Herschel discovered 15 of the 21
objects discussed. For me, following in the footsteps of Herschel
and the other great observers of the past is what spurs
me on to seek out these faint fuzzies. Perhaps you find the
same sort of inspiration. Whatever motivates you to observe,
I hope this tour provides you a bit more of it.
¢ Contributing Editor TED FORTE enjoys observing the deep
sky from his home observatory near Sierra Vista, Arizona.
FURTHER READING: If you want to learn more about the history
of the discoveries - and misidentifications - of the targets
discussed here, head to Steve Gottlieb's and Harold Corwin's
websites, https://is.gd/astronomy_mall and haroldcorwin.net/
ngcic, respectively.
Type
Elliptical
Spiral
Spiral
Irregular
Irregular
Spiral
Coddington's Nebula Dwarf spiral
Spiral
Arp 27
NGC 3556
NGC 3992
Barred spiral
Spiral
Spiral
Spiral
Barred spiral
Barred spiral
Barred spiral
Spiral
Spiral
Spiral
NGC 5457
Barred spiral
Elliptical
Spiral
Surface Brightness Mag(v)
13.1
12.7
13.2
12.5
13.2
13.0
14.8
13.9
13.8
13.2
13.8
13.4
13.1
13.5
13.4
13.1
13.8
13.3
12.9
13.6
14.9
9.9
9.2
6.9
8.4
9.8
10.2
10.4
9.8
10.3
10.2
10.4
10.4
10.0
9.8
10.1
10.5
10.4
10.2
10.3
10.2
7.9
Size/Sep
6.4′ × 3.0′
8.1′ × 3.5′
26.9′ × 14.1′
11.2′ × 4.3′
5.4′ × 4.5′
5.9′ × 2.7′
13.2′ × 5.4′
7.4′ × 6.9′
8.5′ × 3.3′
5.9′ × 3.1′
6.2′ × 4.3′
5.0′ × 3.7′
8.7′ × 2.2′
7.6′ × 4.6′
6.9′ × 3.5′
4.5′ × 2.8′
5.4′ × 4.9′
5.2′ × 3.9′
5.8′ × 2.2′
5.9′ × 3.9′
28.8′ × 26.9′
RA
09h 11.6m
09h 22.0m
09h 55.6m
09h 55.9m
10h 03.4m
09h 47.3m
10h 28.4m
10h 18.3m
10h 19.9m
11h 26.1m
11h 33.4m
11h 21.0m
11h 11.5m
11h 57.6m
11h 53.8m
11h 48.6m
11h 52.8m
12h 03.2m
12h 40.0m
13h 49.3m
14h 03.2m
Dec.
+60° 02′
+50° 59′
+69° 04′
+69° 41′
+68 44′
+67° 55′
+68° 25′
+41° 25′
+45° 33′
+43° 35′
+47° 02′
+53° 10′
+55° 40′
+53° 22′
+52° 19′
+48° 43′
+44° 07′
+44° 32′
+61° 37′
+60° 11′
+54° 21′
Angular sizes are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object's size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnification of
the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * MARCH 2024 25
https://is.gd/astronomy_mall http://www.haroldcorwin.net/ngcic http://www.haroldcorwin.net/ngcic http://skyandtelescope.org
Sky & Telescope - March 2024

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