SH013 – Find M79, NGC 1365, and NGC 1318

In Episode SH013 of Star Hopping…

This episode of Star Hopping checks out the fainter regions just to the lower right of Orion and Canis Major, the dim constellations of Lepus, Caelum, Horologium, Eridanus, and Fornax.

As you will see there are some amazing deep sky objects in the area, but they are a bit difficult to get to!

Happy New Year everyone! This is our last Star Hopping show of 2015, and we want to thank you so, so, much for your support this year in getting Star Hopping launched!

Intro

So here we are at the end of 2015! This episode will be coming out on New Year’s Eve, and looking back on the year, it has been just wonderful for us at Kissimmee Park Observatory. We launched this Star Hopping tutorial series on YouTube and we have nearly 100 subscribers, and the number is growing every week thanks to your support, likes, comments, and shares. 2016 will also be bringing great things and new content from KPO with the launch of our weekly podcast. More info about that and something else that’s pretty exciting, at the end of this episode – stay tuned!

A Few Challenge Targets

So this week’s star hopping targets are all a bit of a stretch, and they’ll definitely test your deep sky location skills. As you saw from the intro, these three targets are considered medium to difficult. As the brighter constellations and the Winter Milky Way rise, interesting but significantly fainter constellations are starting to rise. These are the constellations of Lepus the Hare, Columba the Dove, Caelum the Chisel, Horologium the Clock, Eridanus the River, and Fornax the Furnace. These all lie to the lower right of Orion and Canis Major, outside of the soft glow of the Milky Way. But they contain some spectacular deep sky objects, particularly some of the galaxies contained within the border of Fornax.

Get the rest of the script along with the images and star charts in the Field Notes Guide for this episode!


CLICK >>> Watch this Episode on YouTube!

Click to Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!


Let us know your Questions and Comments!

Please feel free to leave a question or comment below, and we will respond as quickly as we can. You can also reach out to Dave on Twitter @StarHoppingMan.


Connect with Star Hopping!

We would love to have you join us on our various social media sites, and subscribe to our newsletter. Visit our Contact page to connect with us!


Credits for this Episode

  • Star Chart Images & Simulations Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy http://SkySafariAstronomy.com.
  • M79 image by NOAO/AURA/NSF
  • NGC 1365 image by SSRO/PROMPT and NOAO/AURA/NSF
  • NGC 1318 image by Michael Sidonio

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *