{"id":27763,"date":"2022-01-07T11:41:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T11:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=103329"},"modified":"2022-01-07T11:53:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T11:53:10","slug":"a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to the constellation Monoceros"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 07 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The constellation Monoceros is a beautiful pattern of stars visible in the northern hemisphere during winter, when skies are dark and evenings long.<\/p>\n

This makes it a great constellation to observe in the night sky with the naked eye.<\/p>\n

You can find Monoceros, the Unicorn, by looking to the left of the constellation Orion<\/a> and just above Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\""Monoceros\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: CEDIC Team + Bernhard Hubl \/ CCDGuide.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Above Monoceros lies Gemini, which is distinguishable by the two bright stars Castor and Pollux, easily found by tracing a line from Orion\u2019s Belt through bright star Betelgeuse.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve found Monoceros, it\u2019s worth getting our your telescope and observing some of the beautiful deep-sky objects that can be found within the constellation.<\/p>\n

Take our deep-sky tour of the unicorn below and discover more about what this winter constellation has in store.<\/p>\n

Each of our targets is best seen with a medium or large telescope.<\/p>\n

For help locating each target, download our Monoceros deep sky tour guide (PDF)<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

6 deep-sky objects in Monoceros<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1<\/span>

NGC 2232<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""NGC\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Markus Blauensteiner + CEDIC Team \/ CCDGuide.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Our first stop is open star cluster<\/a> NGC 2232, which is located 2.4\u02da to the north and a bit west of the telescopic triple star Beta (\u03b2) Monocerotis. It\u2019s a large cluster with an overall diameter of 36 <\/span>arcminutes, its core region appearing 7 arcminutes across.<\/p>\n

NGC 2232 is centred on the mag. +5.0 star 10 Monocerotis, which tends to dominate the proceedings. Two spindly \u2018legs\u2019 of stars appear to hang south from 10 Monocerotis, extending for 0.4\u02da. To the north lies a gap, before a small grouping of sixth magnitude stars is seen. The group is attractive at low powers.<\/p>\n

2<\/span>

M50<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""M50.\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Michael Breite, Stefan Heutz, Wolfgang Ries \/ CCDGuide.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

M50 lies nearly 10\u02da east-southeast of NGC 2232, or 4.2\u02da northeast of mag. +4.1 Theta (\u03b8) Canis Majoris, the star marking the tip of the Great Dog\u2019s nose. It\u2019s a bright, compact cluster that\u2019s well resolved at 100x power using a 150mm instrument, the view through the eyepiece revealing 70-plus of the cluster\u2019s 600 or so members.<\/p>\n

Visually, the resolved stars in the cluster give it a non-round shape; it is also known as the Heart-Shaped Cluster. A 250mm scope shows a rich cluster containing 150 stars in an area 25 arcminutes across. Many of its stars appear blue-white in colour.<\/p>\n

3<\/span>

NGC 2335<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NGC 2335 is a mag. +7.2 open cluster located 1.9\u02da south-southeast of M50. It\u2019s also the gateway to the Seagull Nebula, IC 2177 (this tour\u2019s next object). The cluster sits north of the middle <\/span>of a right-angled triangle formed from mag. +7.0 HIP 34357, mag. +8.1 TYC 5385-1690-1 and mag. +7.9 TYC 5385-0206-1.<\/p>\n

Many open clusters have some defining pattern or shape and NGC 2335 is no different, containing four stars between mag. +9.5 and +11.2 that form a diamond or rhombus pattern in its core. A 250mm scope reveals about 25 stars in the cluster, all contained in an area 10 arcminutes across. Upping the aperture to 300mm increases the count to 40 stars.<\/p>\n

4<\/span>

IC 2177<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""IC2177\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Bob Franke<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Our next target is large and faint. The Seagull Nebula<\/a>, IC 2177, is an emission nebula with a low surface brightness due to it covering an area 120 x 40 arcminutes. It is possible to see sections of the nebula using smaller instruments, but you\u2019ll need a low power and a dark sky. A narrowband nebula filter can work wonders here.<\/p>\n

The northern \u2018wing tip\u2019 is marked by NGC 2335, with the mag. +6.7 cluster NGC 2343, 0.7\u02da further to the south-southeast. The main band of nebulosity drops south from NGC 2335, curving to the west. Variable star<\/a> V750 Monocerotis (mag. +7.0 to +8.4), 0.7\u02da southwest of NGC 2335 appears surrounded by a haze (Gum 1).<\/p>\n

5<\/span>

NGC 2353<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""NGC\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Image created using the Aladin Sky Atlas software from the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center and Pan-STARRS ([https:\/\/panstarrs.stsci.edu\/ Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System) public data.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

NGC 2353 is an open cluster located a bit south and 2\u02da east of NGC 2335. It\u2019s dominated by mag. +6.0 HIP 34999, located south of the cluster\u2019s centre. It is not part of the cluster, its association being nothing more than line-of-sight. The cluster\u2019s core is compact and surrounded by three <\/span>stars, of magnitudes +8.8, +9.2 and +9.8, arranged in an equilateral triangle.<\/p>\n

A 250mm instrument reveals 30-plus stars scattered across an area 10 arcminutes across. One of the problems viewing NGC 2353 is the richness of the background Milky Way; it\u2019s an object easily lost against the star field it\u2019s in. A large aperture <\/span>will reveal a multitude of stars, shining between mag. +9.0 and +11, in a 20-arcminute region.<\/p>\n

6<\/span>

NGC 2359<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""Thor\u2019s\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Gerald Rhemann\/CCDGuide.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The last target requires us to slip across the border into Canis Major. NGC 2359 \u2013 also known as the Thor\u2019s Helmet Nebula<\/a> \u2013 is located 3\u02da south and 0.7\u02da east of NGC 2353. A small scope will reveal a rectangular patch of nebulosity, about 4 x 1 arcminutes in size, and the appearance is assisted by the use of an OIII (oxygen) or UHC (ultra high contrast) filter.<\/p>\n

With increased aperture more nebulosity appears, a faint circular feature appearing to the north of the brighter rectangle. The circular feature is a bubble formed by the stellar wind from mag. +11.5 HIP 35378 at its centre.<\/p>\n

This guide originally appeared in the January 2022 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Pete Lawrence Published: Friday, 07 January 2022 at 12:00 am The constellation Monoceros is a beautiful pattern of stars visible in the northern hemisphere during winter, when skies are dark and evenings long. This makes it a great constellation to observe in the night sky with the naked eye. You can find Monoceros, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":27764,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros.jpg",1200,799,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros.jpg",1200,799,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/01\/a-guide-to-the-constellation-monoceros.jpg",1200,799,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Pete Lawrence Published: Friday, 07 January 2022 at 12:00 am The constellation Monoceros is a beautiful pattern of stars visible in the northern hemisphere during winter, when skies are dark and evenings long. This makes it a great constellation to observe in the night sky with the naked eye. You can find Monoceros, the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/27763"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}