messier monday
esiegel | May 27, 2013"Yes, indeed, if humankind — from humble farmers in the fields and toiling workers in the cities to teachers, people of independent means, those who have reached the pinnacle of fame or fortune, even the most frivolous of society women — if they knew what profound inner pleasure await those who gaze at the heavens, then France, nay, the whole of Europe, would be covered with telescopes instead of bayonets, thereby promoting universal happiness and peace." -Camille Flammarion
Welcome back to Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang, where each Monday we take a detailed look at one of the 110…
esiegel | May 20, 2013“The Milky Way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters.” -Galileo Galilei
Welcome back to another Messier Monday here on Starts With a Bang! With 110 deep-sky objects making it up, the Messier Catalogue is the first comprehensive, accurate catalogue of faint (but not too faint) fixtures in the night sky. Each object tells its own unique tale, and is visible to amateur and professional skywatchers alike with even the simplest of equipment. Many of these objects were discovered by Charles Messier himself (or his assistant, Pierre Méchain), while others go…
esiegel | May 13, 2013"How is it they live for eons in such harmony - the billions of stars - when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their mind against someone they know?" -Thomas Aquinas
Welcome back to another Messier Monday here on Starts With a Bang! Each Monday, we take an in-depth look at one of the 110 deep-sky wonders -- all visible with a small telescope or even good binoculars -- that make up Charles Messier's original catalogue of non-cometary objects! Today, we're taking a look at a one-of-a-kind galaxy among the Messier objects, which just happens to be the (co-)first galaxy I…
esiegel | May 6, 2013"Why I came here, I know not; where I shall go it is useless to inquire - in the midst of myriads of the living and the dead worlds, stars, systems, infinity, why should I be anxious about an atom?" -Lord Byron
Welcome back to another Messier Monday here on Starts With a Bang! Messier's 18th-Century catalogue of 110 deep-sky objects that could potentially be confused with comets by skywatchers has endured as one of the greatest collections of deep-sky objects clearly visible to amateur and professional astronomers worldwide!
Image credit: ScienceSouth - Tony's Astronomy Corner, via http://…
esiegel | April 29, 2013"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings." -W. Shakespeare
Welcome to just another Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang! Each Monday, we're taking a detailed look at a different one of the 110 deep-sky objects that compose the Messier Catalogue, each one a different semi-permanent wonder of the night sky for our viewing pleasure here on Earth.
Image credit: Alistair Symon, 2005-2009.
While we may not think of our galaxy as a hotbed of star formation -- and indeed it isn't compared to many, as it forms less than one Sun-like star per year…
esiegel | April 22, 2013"[T]he entire globe will soon be wrapped in a glowing envelope through which none of the magic of the Universe can be seen by the naked eye." -George Eslinger
Welcome to still another Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang! Each Monday, we highlight a different one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier Catalogue, the first accurate catalogue of more than 100 extended, deep-sky wonders strewn across the expansive night sky!
Image credit: ScienceSouth -- Tony's Astronomy Corner.
Tonight, the Moon is nearly full, which means the largest natural source of light pollution at…
esiegel | April 15, 2013"Upon one occasion, while engaged upon a seven-foot mirror, he did not remove his hands from it for 16 hours together." -from Caroline Herschel's obituary
Welcome to another Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang! Each Monday, we highlight a different one of the 110 deep-sky objects that Messier catalogued so that comet-hunters wouldn't confuse these permanent fixtures with transient comets. But each object has a unique, remarkable story in its own right.
Image credit: The Messier Objects by Alistair Symon, from 2005-2009.
Out of the 110 objects, a full forty of them are galaxies…
esiegel | April 8, 2013"The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." -Henry David Thoreau
Welcome to another Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang! Each week, we take a look at the 110 deep-sky objects that comprise the Messier catalogue, the first comprehensive catalogue of fixed, deep-sky objects that could possibly be confused for potential brightening comets.
Image credit: Giacomo Bongiorno of Le Meraviglie del Cielo.
Today, to mark our hitting the quarter-century mark in looking at these nebulae…
esiegel | April 1, 2013"It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character." -Dale Turner
This April Fools' day, even though the rest of the internet revels in trickery, happens to fall on a Monday. Over here at Starts With A Bang, that means it's time for Messier Monday, an in-depth look at one of the 110 deep-sky objects catalogued by Charles Messier in the 18th Century to help comet-hunters avoid confusion. Today, the catalogue boasts 107…
esiegel | March 25, 2013"I wouldn't dream of working on something that didn't make my gut rumble and my heart want to explode." -Kate Winslet
Welcome back for another Messier Monday! At the start of each week, we take a detailed look at one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier Catalogue. This week, we've got a very special happening in the night sky to introduce you to.
Image credit: Tenho Tuomi, Saskatchewan, Canada.
One of the most common class of object in the Messier Catalogue are galaxies external to our own Milky Way, which make up a whopping 40 of these 110 objects. Occasionally -- a little…
esiegel | March 18, 2013"Every star may be a sun to someone." -Carl Sagan
Welcome back to yet another Messier Monday! Each week, we highlight one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier catalogue: Charles Messier's legacy to comet-hunters and amateur astronomers, pointing out some of the most easily visible deep-sky objects as seen from our vantage point on Earth.
Image credit: Yvett Bass (M1-M55) and Josh Sanford (M56-M110), via Dan Bruton of SFASU.
Once-a-year, around the new Moon nearest to the vernal equinox, many amateur astronomers around the world attempt to view all 110 objects in the same…
esiegel | March 11, 2013"When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time." -Haile Gebrselassie
Welcome to a very special Messier Monday, which just happens to be the twenty-first consecutive week we've taken a look at one of the 110 fixed, deep-sky objects that Messier and his collaborators catalogued to avoid confusion with comets.
Image credit: Tenho Tuomi, of his completed Messier Marathon.
Today's Messier Monday is very special, because today is the new Moon closest to the vernal equinox. Each year, on (or very close to) the vernal equinox --…
esiegel | March 4, 2013"Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will forever bubble up, if forever you dig." -Marcus Aurelius
Welcome back to yet another Messier Monday! Each week, we're taking a look at one of the 110 fixed, deep-sky objects -- not to be confused with comets -- that made up Messier's original catalogue.
Image credit: ScienceSouth - Tony's Astronomy Corner.
Today, we're going to take a look at Messier 52, one of the 33 open star clusters in Messier's catalogue, which happens to be right on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. It's one of the easiest Messier objects to find, as to get…
esiegel | February 25, 2013"Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change." -Alfred Lord Tennyson
Welcome back, for another Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang! Each Monday, we've been taking a look at one of the 110 Deep-Sky Objects that make up the Messier catalogue, a mix of clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more, all visible from most locations on Earth with even the most basic of astronomical equipment.
Image credit: Greg Scheckler, from his 2008 Messier marathon, where he nabbed 105/110.
When you think of our local group of galaxies, you probably think of the Milky Way and Andromeda…
esiegel | February 18, 2013"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if the simplest things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive." -Eleanora Duse
Welcome to another Messier Monday, where each week we take a look at one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier Catalogue! One of the most common type of object in this catalogue is the globular cluster -- referred to by Messier as a round nebula (since he couldn't resolve them into individual stars) -- of which there are 29 in the catalogue.
Image credit: Deep Sky Observing, http://www.deepskyobserving.com…
esiegel | February 11, 2013"Always try to keep a patch of sky above your life." -Marcel Proust
Welcome to another Messier Monday, where each week we take an in-depth look at one of the 110 deep sky objects that make up the Messier Catalogue! Messier was not the first person to try and make an accurate, large catalog of deep sky objects, but he was the first to successfully do so: most of his objects both actually exist, are deep sky objects, and had their positions recorded correctly.
Image credit: © 2008 Space-and-Telescope.com.
Most, that is, but not all. Today, we'll be looking at the open star cluster Messier 48…
esiegel | February 4, 2013"The thing's hollow—it goes on forever—and—oh my God—it's full of stars!" -Dave Bowman, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Back in October, we began a new, weekly series here called Messier Monday. Each Monday, we've taken a look at one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier Catalogue, nebulous objects that might potentially be confused with comets by unaware comet-hunters.
Image credit: Lee Kelvin and Grant Miller, via http://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~lsk9/.
These objects include stellar remnants, star-forming nebulae, young star clusters, ancient globular clusters, and distant galaxies far…
esiegel | January 28, 2013"A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?" -The Immortal Poet Bromley
To your naked eye, the night sky appears littered with thousands of individual points of light: the stars and planets so familiar to us. But through even a small telescope or a pair of binoculars, not only do the number of visible stars increase into the hundreds-of-thousands or even the millions, but a slew of deep-sky objects become visible to us as well. Each monday, we highlight one of the deep-sky objects from…
esiegel | January 21, 2013"Modern man must descend the spiral of his own absurdity to the lowest point; only then can he look beyond it." -Vaclav Havel
But the spiral is more than a metaphor or a mathematical shape, it's also the most common feature observed in the galaxies out there in the Universe. There are 27 spiral galaxies in the Messier Catalogue, and today I want to show you how to find the most southerly of them all!
Image credit: Rich Richins, of all 110 Messier objects (in no particular order). M83 boxed.
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as Messier 83, is a full 30 degrees south of the celestial…
esiegel | December 31, 2012"I'd rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are;
because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star.
I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far;
for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are." -Milton Berle
Welcome to Messier Monday, where we pick one of the 110 spectacular deep-sky objects of the Messier catalogue each week and learn a little more about it.
Image credit: Paul Gitto's Messier Marathon.
This week, to usher in 2013, I'd like to take a look at Messier 13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, which is visible to northern skywatchers both…