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DesignationCommon Name / Alternate DesignationSIMBAD DesignationConstellationTypeRA (J2000)Dec (J2000)Observing notes, what to expect etc.
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If you haven't observed much before, start here. A 6" or larger telescope is recommended.
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M 4M 4ScorpiusGlobular Cluster16h 23m 35s-26° 31' 29"The closest globular cluster to us, not far from Antares. Visible to the naked eye from a really dark place. Will resolve fully!
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M 13Hercules Globular ClusterM 13HerculesGlobular Cluster16h 41m 42s36° 27' 39"Most beautiful globular cluster of the northern sky!
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NGC 6231NGC 6231ScorpiusOpen Cluster16h 54m 10s-41° 49' 30"Bright and beautiful cluster of a few closely-spaced stars within the "False Comet" in Scorpius
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M 6Butterfly ClusterM 6ScorpiusOpen Cluster17h 40m 20s-32° 15' 30"A bright and beautiful open cluster visible to the naked eye; vague butterfly shape
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IC 4665OphiuchusOpen Cluster17h 46m 12s05° 43' 00"An open cluster visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch is a great binocular target.
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M 7Ptolemy's ClusterScorpiusOpen Cluster17h 53m 50s-34° 47' 36"A cluster of several bright stars first described by Ptolemy in the second century AD, is visible to the naked eye, and is a treat through any binoculars or telescope.
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NGC 6543Cat's Eye NebulaNGC 6543DracoPlanetary Nebula17h 58m 33s66° 38' 01"Fairly high surface brightness, tiny planetary nebula with a very faint outer halo
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B 86InkspotBarnard 86SagittariusDark Nebula18h 02m 58s-27° 52' 06"An easily observable dark nebula on a bright Milky Way star cloud background. Just next to cluster NGC 6520. Look for globular cluster Djorgovski 2 nearby.
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NGC 6520NGC 6520SagittariusOpen Cluster18h 03m 25s-27° 53' 28"An open cluster noted for its proximity to the Inkspot and Djorgovski 2.
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M 8Lagoon NebulaM 8SagittariusOpen Cluster + HII18h 03m 42s-24° 22' 48"Beautiful HII region in the summer milky way
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M 24Sagittarius Star CloudM 24SagittariusStar Cloud18h 18m 48s-18° 33' 00"Visible to the naked eye as a patch of Milky Way, this star cloud is a good binocular target.
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M 17Swan NebulaM 17SagittariusEmission Nebula (HII)18h 20m 47s-16° 10' 18"Perhaps one of the best nebula of the summer skies, looks like an elongated "2" or an "Omega" or a swan.
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M 22Sagittarius Globular ClusterM 22SagittariusGlobular Cluster18h 36m 24s-23° 54' 10"One of the best globular clusters of the southern skies
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M 11Wild Duck ClusterScutumOpen Cluster18h 51m 05s-06° 16' 12"A rich, compact cluster of stars. A visual treat!
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M 57Ring NebulaM 57LyraPlanetary Nebula18h 53m 35s33° 01' 47"An extremely bright and beautiful, must-see planetary nebula
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M 54M 54SagittariusExtragalactic Globular Cluster18h 55m 03s-30° 28' 40"The special feature of this globular cluster is that it is part of (possibly the core of) the SagDEG galaxy, which was cannibalized by the milky way. By far the easiest globular cluster that's not a bona fide Milky Way member!
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Cr 399Coathanger AsterismCoathangerVulpeculaAsterism19h 25m 24s20° 11'A famous asterism in Vulpecula that looks like a coat hanger. The base of the hanger spans about 2°, so it's a target suitable for small telescopes with wide eyepieces, or binoculars.
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NGC 6826Blinking PlanetaryNGC 6826CygnusPlanetary Nebula19h 44m 48s50° 31' 32"A high--surface brightness planetary nebula in Cygnus, use high power as it may appear very stellar.
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M 27Dumbbell Nebula / Applecore NebulaM 27VulpeculaPlanetary Nebula19h 59m 36s22° 43' 18"An extremely bright and beautiful, must-see planetary nebula
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NGC 7009Saturn NebulaNGC 7009AquariusPlanetary Nebula21h 04m 11s-11° 21' 47"A tiny blue planetary nebula. Use high power, can be mistaken for a star at low power. At high power, look for the two ansae that give this nebula its name.
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NGC 7027Jewel Bug NebulaCygnusPlanetary Nebula21h 07m 02s42° 14' 12"I haven't observed this other than through a 48". Seems like a bright target that will be accessible in a 6". Steve Gottlieb has an observation with an 80mm finder scope, and notes that it has very high surface brightness.
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NGC 7331Deer Lick GalaxyNGC 7331PegasusGalaxy22h 37m 05s34° 25' 13"An iconic inclined spiral galaxy with the most absurd name ever -- the author of a certain book named it the "Deer Lick Galaxy" because he had a good view of it from a place called "Deer Lick Gap". The galaxy is easy, but see also "The Fleas" (which are an extension of the absurd deer-related name), a group of 4 faint NGC galaxies that flank it.
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NGC 7662Blue SnowballNGC 7662AndromedaPlanetary Nebula23h 25m 54s42° 32' 08"A tiny blue planetary nebula. Use high power, can be mistaken for a star at low power
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NGC 7793Bond GalaxyNGC 7793SculptorGalaxy23h 57m 49s-32° 35' 30"I have this galaxy here mostly for its name :D. This has nothing to do with James Bond (that would be NGC 007), but was re-discovered by George Bond in 1850. People later realized James Dunlop had already discovered it earlier. Nevertheless, it's still called Bond's Galaxy.
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NGC 55String of Pearls GalaxyNGC 55SculptorGalaxy00h 15m 08s-39° 13' 10"A mottled edge-on galaxy
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NGC 134Giant Squid GalaxyNGC 134SculptorGalaxy00h 30m 22s-33° 14' 42"A moderately bright, long edge-on
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NGC 253Sculptor Galaxy / Silver DollarNGC 253SculptorGalaxy00h 47m 33s-25° 17' 15"One of the most beautiful galaxies of the southern skies! Nearly edge-on spiral.
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NGC 288NGC 288SculptorGlobular Cluster00h 52m 45s-26° 35' 51"A bright globular cluster, even visible in large binoculars
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NGC 404Mirach's GhostNGC 404AndromedaGalaxy01h 09m 27s35° 43' 06"Hiding in the glare of the naked-eye star Mirach (beta Andromedae) is this tiny but bright galaxy
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NGC 457Owl Cluster / E.T. ClusterNGC 457CassiopeiaOpen Cluster01h 19m 33s58° 17' 42"
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M 33Triangulum GalaxyM 33TriangulumGalaxy01h 33m 52s30° 39' 29"In this excellent face-on spiral galaxy of our local group, aspire to see spiral arms. Even if you can't trace out the arms, try NGC 604, a nebula in this galaxy. Once you have seen NGC 604, try to see the many other knots / nebulosities that stud its spiral arms.
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M 76Little Dumbbell NebulaM 76PerseusPlanetary Nebula01h 42m 18s51° 34' 17"A somewhat faint, but beautiful planetary nebula
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NGC 663NGC 663CassiopeiaOpen Cluster01h 46m 17s61° 13' 06"A rich, dense open cluster in Cassiopeia. A delight for any aperture.
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NGC 752AndromedaOpen Cluster01h 57m 35s37° 50' 00"Visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch, this sparse open cluster of bright stars in Andromeda spans about 1° of the sky.
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NGC 884, NGC 869Double ClusterNGC 884, NGC 869PerseusPair of Open Clusters02h 20m 32.69s57° 07' 8.65"Two beautiful clusters in a wide-field view! What more can I say?
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NGC 1023NGC 1023PerseusGalaxy02h 40m 24s39° 03' 48"A bright peculiar galaxy in Perseus
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M 77Cetus A / Squid GalaxyM 77CetusGalaxy02h 42m 41s-00° 00' 46"A Seyfert (active) galaxy with an extremely bright core. May look like a star at low power.
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Engagement RingPolarisUrsa MinorAsterism02h 50m88° 55'With Polaris as the diamond, find an asterism of stars spanning about a degree circle in the sky. A non-exhaustive list of stars involved: HR 286, HD 8395, HD 14718 and HD 14369. Great binocular target.
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NGC 1300NGC 1300EridanusGalaxy03h 19m 41s-19° 24' 41"A prominent barred spiral galaxy
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Cr 39Alpha Persei ClusterCollinder 39PerseusOpen Cluster03h 26m 28s48° 58' 30"This is the loose cluster of stars, largely visible to the naked eye, around the bright star Mirfak (alpha Persei). Binoculars make it come alive.
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NGC 1365Great Barred SpiralNGC 1365FornaxGalaxy03h 33m 37s-36° 08' 27"Perhaps the best example of a barred spiral galaxy in the night sky. Look for the N-shaped structure made of spiral arms and a bar. Someone called this the "Shakespeare Spiral", the worst astronomy pun I've heard.
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NGC 1399NGC 1399FornaxGalaxy03h 38m 29s-35° 26' 59"This is the central galaxy (type "cD") of the Fornax cluster of galaxies, a giant elliptical harboring a super-massive black hole. The Fornax cluster is one of the nice clusters that can be explored in a larger amateur telescope like a 12". Using this galaxy as an entry-point and a finder chart or image, check off the galaxies of the Fornax cluster.
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M 45PleiadesM 45TaurusOpen Cluster + Ref. Neb.03h 46m 24s24° 06' 50"The best open cluster in the sky. For a challenge, look for NGC 1435, Merope Nebula, in it.
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NGC 1535Cleopatra's EyeNGC 1535EridanusPlanetary Nebula04h 14m 16s-12° 44' 20"A bright, tiny planetary nebula. Use high power, may look like a star at low power.
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M 79M 79LepusGlobular Cluster05h 24m 11s-24° 31' 25"One of the best winter-time globulars
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M 1Crab NebulaM 1TaurusSupernova Remnant05h 34m 32s22° 00' 52"The famous remnant of the 1054 A.D. supernova observed by Chinese, Japanese and Native Americans. Using an OIII filter brings out the filaments and changes the visual appearance of this nebula drastically. Observe both with and without filter. The non-OIII emissions result from "synchrotron emission", produced by electrons gyrating at speeds close to that of light around strong magnetic fields from the crab pulsar
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M 42Orion NebulaM 42OrionEmission Nebula (HII)05h 35m 17s-05° 23' 25"Perhaps the best nebula in the night sky. Zoom in on the trapezium, young hot stars that are responsible for lighting up the nebula
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M 43De Mairan's NebulaM 43OrionEmission Nebula (HII)05h 35m 31s-05° 16' 03"Just north of M 42 and separated from it by a small dark region, this is a comma-shaped nebula
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M 78Casper NebulaM 78OrionReflection Nebula05h 46m 45s00° 04' 48"A prominent reflection nebula not far from Orion's belt. Also look for nearby reflection nebula NGC 2071
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NGC 216937 AsterismNGC 2169OrionOpen Cluster06h 08m 24s13° 57' 53"The famous cluster that looks like the number "37" written out in stars! A treat with any telescope.