northernmost. corner. of. the. “keystone”. of. Hercules;.
sweeping.around.a.bit,.you’ll.find.the.cluster.Iying.between.
two.faint.stars..It.will.look.like.a.soft.fuzzy.blob.with.the.28.
mm.(16X).eyepiece..Next,.try.the.15.mm.(30X).eyepiece.
and.you’ll.see.that.it.has.a.bright.center.surrounded.by.
a. halo,. and. if. sky. conditions. are. good,. that. it. sparkles.
with.unresolved.knots.of.stars..If.you.have.a.still.higher-
power.eyepiece.such.as.the.8.mm.(56X).Plossl,.looking.
to.the.side.of.the.cluster.using.averted.vision.(discussed.
earlier).you’ll.see.that.it’s.made.up.of.thousands.of.just-
barely-perceptible.individual.stars!.Two.other.big,.bright.
and.fairly.easy.to.resolve.starballs.are.M.4.in.Scorpius.
and.M.22.in.Sagittarius..
The Edmund Sky Guide
.contains.
a.list.of.some.of.the.best.globulars.suitable.for.viewing.
with.your.Astroscan.
There’s.actually.a.third.type.of.stellar.grouping,.but.one.
that’s.not.a.physically.related.cluster.of.stars..These.are.
the. “asterisms,”. chance. alignments. of. stars. in. distinct.
and. often. surprising. configurations. including. apparent.
letters,.numbers.and.geometric.shapes..(There’s.even.a.
coathanger.in.the.sky.–.the.Coathanger.in.the.Summer.
constellation. Vulpecula!). As. you. sweep. the. heavens.
with. your. Astroscan. using. your. low-power. eyepiece,.
you’ll.encounter.many.of.these.delightful.objects..
Nebulae
Some. of. the. clusters. you’ll. find. when. you. scan. the.
Milky.Way.will.seem.to.have.a.fuzzy.haze.around.them,.
somewhat.like.a.little.cloud..Early.sky.explorers.noticed.
this.and.called.the.fuzzy.spots.“nebulae,”.which.is.Latin.
for. clouds.. These. “diffuse. nebulae”. are. now. known.
to. be. vast. clouds. of. hydrogen. from. which. the. cluster.
Lagoon Nebula
M 8
Orion Nebula
M 42
Photos by
J. Cocozza
stars. formed. and. which. illuminate. the. remaining. gas.
that. hasn’t. condensed. into. new. stars. yet.. There. are.
only.a.handful.of.these.objects.readily.visible.in.small.
telescopes,.the.best.known.and.most.impressive.of.which..
is. the. magnificent. Orion. Nebula. (M. 42/M. 43).. It. lies.
in.the.“sword”.hanging.from.the.three.belt.stars.of.the.
bright.Winter.constellation.Orion.and,.to.the.eye,.looks.
like.a.fuzzy.star..In.your.Astroscan.at.16X.it.has.a.distinct.
greenish.hue.and.at.its.center,.using.the.15.mm.(30X).
eyepiece,.you’ll.see.a.knot.of.four.bright.stars.known.as.
the.Trapezium..The.nebula.sweeps.around.the.central.
stars.in.a.dramatic.swirling.fashion.and,.using.averted.
vision.under.a.dark.sky,..it.nearly.fills.the.field.of.view..(M.
43.is.actually.a.small.detached.part.of.the.main.nebula.
lying.just.to.the.north.of.it.)
Second. only. to. the. Orion. Nebula. is. the. beautiful.
summertime. object. called. the. Lagoon. Nebula. (M. 8)..
lying. in. the. Sagittarius. Milky. Way.. First,. find. this.
constellation’s.“teapot”.star.pattern..Then,.using.the.28.
mm.(16X).eyepiece,.point.your.Astroscan.at.the.“spout”.
and.raise.it.about.one.field-of-view.diameter..The.Lagoon.
will.be.shining.softly.in.the.eyepiece,.wrapped.around.a.
Globular
Star Cluster
M 13 in
Hercules
