Whitby & District Astronomical Society

Continuing the tour of stellar objects crossing the meridian line this month: two globular clusters from the constellations Serpens and Scorpius.

• Globular Cluster: M5 (NGC 5904)
• Globular Cluster: M4 (NGC 6121)

Continuing the tour of stellar objects crossing the meridian line this month: two objects from the small 'Hunting Dogs' Galaxy, officially called 'Canes Venatici'

• Star: Cor Coroli or ‘Charles's Heart’.
• Galaxy: Sunflower Galaxy (M63 or NGC 5055)

Continuing the tour of stellar objects crossing the meridian line this month: a double-star in the 'Sickle' of Leo, a field barred spiral galaxy also in Leo, knwon to its friends as "NGC 2903"; and the 'Ghost of Jupiter' planetary nebula in Hydra.

• Star: Algieba: the ‘The Lion's Mane’.
• Galaxy: NGC 2903.  Discovered by William Herschel in 1784, this barred spiral galaxy lies in Leo near the top of the lion's head, to the right of the sickle asterism
• Nebula: NGC 3242 - ‘Ghost of Jupiter’ nebula.

The date of the Vernal Equinox and officially the start spring in the northern hemisphere falls on March 20th this year.  This is when the Sun's path - the ecliptic, first crosses the celestial equator on its apparent journey northwards into the sky.  The orientation of the Earth at the spring or autumnal equinox is such that neither of the poles are inclined towards the Sun and all locations experience equal hours of daylight and darkness - hence the term equinox... [Read more about Spring Equinox 2018]