Starship Asterisk*

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/content5817.html wrote:

M40: The “Unknown” Messier Object
Glenn Chaple

<<What is the most most-observed deep-sky object in the Messier Catalog? Some might suggest the Orion Nebula (M42) or Andromeda Galaxy (M31), both cosmic showpieces. More likely, it’s the Pleiades (M45), a striking and easily observed naked eye cluster.

What about the other end of the spectrum – those Messier objects that receive scant attention? The least-observed might well be Messier 40. Arguably the oddest member of the Catalog, M40 isn’t a cluster, nebula, or galaxy. It’s a double star! We might well label M40 “Messier’s Mistake.”

Messier stumbled upon this stellar duo while searching for a nebulous object reported to be in the area. For some reason, perhaps because it might appear nebulous at low power or in an inferior instrument, he added it to his Catalog. A century later, another comet hunter, Friedrich Auguste Theodor Winnecke, rediscovered the object. He correctly catalogued it as a double star, and it bears the alternate identity Winnecke 4. As double stars go, M40 isn’t a very inspirational sight. Its magnitude 9.7 and 10.1 component stars are separated by over 52 arc-seconds. Quite likely, it’s an optical pair. It may not be one of the night sky’s spectacles, but the path to observing all of the Messier objects goes through M40.>>

Alessandro wrote:What about the object at X=6274, Y=2254 (from top left)?
an easter egg or a photographic artifact?
C°°)

Jake81499 wrote:
On the far right hand side of this photo under the bottom star of the dipper there is a streak. Does anyone know what that might be?

kaigun wrote:They mentioned the pointers to the polestar, but what about "follow the arc to Arcturus?"

kaigun wrote:They mentioned the pointers to the polestar, but what about "follow the arc to Arcturus?"

islader2 wrote:Neufer: great post! But I wonder if nontypical Messier objects {such as M40} might not have something to do with Messier's obsession about having 100 items to list? Some of us psychometricians often dwell on stuff like that. Thanx.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Messier wrote:
<<Charles Messier (26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 110 "Messier objects". The purpose of the catalogue was to help astronomical observers, in particular comet hunters such as himself, distinguish between permanent and transient objects in the sky.

The first version of Messier's catalogue contained 45 objects and was published in 1774 in the journal of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. The final version of the catalogue was published in 1781, in Connoissance des Temps for 1784. The final list of Messier objects had grown to 103.

On several different occasions between 1921 and 1966, astronomers and historians discovered evidence of another seven deep-sky objects that were observed either by Messier or his friend and assistant, Pierre Méchain, shortly after the final version was published. These seven objects, M104 through M110, are accepted by astronomers as "official" Messier objects.

The catalogue is not organized scientifically by object type or by location, as the later New General Catalogue would be. Nonetheless, the Messier catalogue comprises nearly all the most spectacular examples of the five types of deep sky object -- diffuse nebulae, planetary nebulae, open clusters, globular clusters and galaxies -- visible from European latitudes. Because these objects could be observed with the relatively small-aperture refracting telescope (approximately four inches) used by Messier to study the sky, they are among the brightest and most attractive deep sky objects observable from earth. Furthermore, almost all of the Messier objects are among the closest to our planet in their respective classes, which makes them heavily studied with professional class instruments that today can resolve very small and visually spectacular details in them.>>

graydawn wrote:Hello,
Near top left corner of Big Dipper mosaic is M101. Enlarge the picture. At about 8 o'clock from M101, 2 inches away from M101, is what appears to be a transparent sphere, looking carefully, another object can barely be seen at about 1 o'clock within the spere.
What is this object?

thank you,