Monoceros the Unicorn
A
faint but fascinating constellation between Orion and Canis Minor.
Jakob Bartsch, a German mathematician and son in law of Johannes
Kepler brought it into general use on his star chart of 1624,
although there are references to such a constellation in this
position in earlier works by astronomers. Its location in the Milky
Way ensures that it is well stocked with nebulae and clusters.
Alpha
has a magnitude of only 3.9 and lies 148 light years away. It is a
G9 class giant star.
The
brightest star is beta at magnitude 3.7, however beta is a system of
three stars and under the very best of conditions you might be able
to make them out. A pair of binoculars will easily show the three
stars. Beta lies at a distance of about 700 light years.
With
the Milky Way flowing through Monoceros the area is very rich in
faint stars also there are various clusters of stars.
M
50 is an obscure open cluster in an equally obscure constellation
Start by using binoculars to find M50 it’s a 6th mag glow in a
rich Milky Way field 7 degrees north of gamma Canis
Major a
4th mag star about 5 degrees 2 finger widths east of Sirius. Once you
have found this snowy looking blur try to see it with the naked eye.
If your sky is very clear and dark you might just glimpse it.
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