A little ramble through Monceros the Unicorn

 If you think that finding a Unicorn on the Earth wait until you look for one in the night sky.

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. there are some reports that in 1564 it was regarded as “The other horse south of the Twins and the Crab”. There are even earlier references to the constellation being represented on Persian star globes.

Its location in the Milky Way ensures that it is well stocked with nebulae and clusters.

The three stars Betelgeuse in Orion, Procyon in Canis Minor and Sirius in Canis Major form what astronomers call the Winter Triangle. The Unicorn is found within this triangle.

Alpha has a magnitude of only 3.9 and lies 148 light years away. It is a G 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 If your sky is very clear and dark you might just glimpse it. Its 3,000 light years away. There are over 500 stars.

NGC 2232 an open cluster centred around the star 10 Monoceros. Its brightness is magnitude 4.0 and lies at a distance of 1,600 light years.

NGC 2237 the Rosette Nebula magnitude 9.0 and lies at a distance of 5,000 light years. It is a very complicated region which contains NGC 2238, 2239,2244 and 2246. It is an area often photographed by astronomers. The whole complex of nebula covers an area of 130 light years.

NGC 2261 Hubble’s Variable Nebula which is illuminated by the variable star R Monocertis which varies between 10 to 12. It is so named because it was the first object photographed by Edwin Hubble when the Palomar 200 inch telescope was used for the first time.   It is mag 9.0 and lies at a distance of 2,500 light years.

NGC 2264 The Christmas tree or Cone nebula Magnitude 4.0 and 2,600 light years away inside the nebula is a the bright luminous star S Monocerotis or 15 Monocerostis which varies very slightly S has a magnitude of 4.6

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