Meet the Cheshire Cat and discover the cross asterism of the Delones
1. The Cheshire Cat
Recommended equipment: 10×50
How nice to be welcomed to the sky with a smile! Yellow Phi (φ) Aurigae is the brightest star in the ‘grin’ of mostly 6th and 7th magnitude stars that extends for about 1.5°, with another widely spaced pair of stars – the yellowish eyes – 0.5° to the west. Other than a small group of 8th magnitude stars that gives the merest hint of the disappearing nose, that’s all that remains of the Cheshire Cat.
2. The Auriga Trio of Clusters
Recommended equipment: 10×50
At the northern end of the Cheshire Cat’s smile, you will see a fuzzy patch. That is the Starfish Cluster, M38, and a couple of degrees southeast you’ll find another one, M36. Now put M36 at the northwest of the field and yet another fuzzy patch, larger and brighter than either of the previous two, is visible to the left of centre of the field of view. This is the Salt and Pepper Cluster, M37.
3. Stock 10
Recommended equipment: 10×50
Stock 2 is about the same size as M37, but is a very sparse cluster that can be tricky to distinguish from the background Milky Way. You’ll find it at the third point of a triangle with Tau (τ) and Upsilon (υ) Aurigae. The brightest three stars form a distinct little arc, which you can use to confirm that you are in the right place, but note how all the stars clump into little sub-groups.
4. The Delones
Recommended equipment: 10×50
Traditionally, the Delones (Psi (ψ) Aurigae) group of 5th magnitude stars represented the ends of the lashes of the Charioteer’s whip. Then Maximilian Hell used them to honour William Herschel’s discovery of Uranus with a depiction of his telescope. The variety of colours makes this a rewarding region for binoculars. Note the cross asterism formed by Psi-2, Psi-4, Psi-5 and Psi-7 Aurigae and 16 Lyncis.
5. NGC 2281
Recommended equipment: 15×70
The cross asterism of the Delones is a good guide to our next open cluster. NGC2281 lies less than a degree southwest of Psi-7 Aurigae. This is a loose but rich cluster that benefits from the magnification of larger binoculars – it looks like a nebulous patch in smaller ones. If you look carefully, you may see that the central ‘star’ is a tiny rhombus of 9th magnitude stars.
6. The Other Double Cluster
Recommended equipment: 15×70
Look midway between Capella (Alpha (α) Aurigae) and Mirphak (Alpha (α) Perseii) and the more obvious of the double, NGC 1528, will present as a rich, compressed cluster much like M38. NGC 1545, slightly more than a degree to the southeast, is smaller and sparser, but brighter. At 2,500 lightyears away, they are a similar distance from us.