October 2020 Monthly Challenge.

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October 2020 Monthly Challenge.

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Post by KingClinton »


A big thank you to all of you that put forward suggestions for the October 2020 monthly challenge! :text-thankyoublue:

If you wish to suggest a target for the November challenge you can do so here: viewtopic.php?f=84&p=116293#p116293

October 2020 MONTHLY CHALLENGE!


The target suggestions for the October challenge were once again put through a online random draw generator and we have our winners!

For the Northern Hemisphere we have Messier 110.
For the Southern Hemisphere we have NGC 7293.


NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.

Messier 110, NGC 205, Elliptical galaxy in Andromeda, Magnitude +8.09

Messier 110 is a bright satellite galaxy of the Andromeda galaxy(M31).The galaxy was discovered by Messier in 1773 but he never included it in his catalog, only in 1966 did Kenneth Glyn Jones include it in the catalog as M110. It was also independently discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 and entered as Number 9 in her catalog, William Herschel numbered it as V.18.
M110 is a fairly bright, large elongated galaxy with no prominent core and no stellar nucleus. M110 is 12 000 light years across and at a distance of 2.5 million light years from Earth.
Unusually, M110 shows hints of some dust and recent star formation. The structure of M110 also shows a slight twist due to the gravitational perturbations caused by M31.
Below is a Stellarium screenshot showing where NGC 205 is located.

M110-forum.jpg




SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

NGC 7293, Helix Nebula, Planetary Nebula in Aquarius, Magnitude +7.59

NGC 7293 is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius.
The popular name "The helix nebula" refers to the nebula's appearance in photographs and has been refered to as the "Eye of God" on the internet since 2003.
The nebula was discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding sometime before 1824 and was overlooked by William Herschel.
NGC 7293 is the closest planetary nebula to Earth at a distance of 650 light years and is 2.5 light years across with a estimated age of 10,600 years. and also one of the largest known planetary nebula covering a area of 16' in diameter, almost half the full Moon.
The halo extends out even further to 28'. because of the size it's surface brightness is very low and is a difficult target for visual observations, we suggest using a OIII or UHC filter when visually observing the Helix.
The Helix is also the first planetary nebula discovered to contain "knots", there are an estimated 20, 000 knots in the Helix, these knots are radially symmetric and described as cometary with bright cusps and tails, each the size of our solar system.
Below is a Stellarium screenshot showing the location for NGC 7293.

NGC-7293-forum.jpg

We hope that you have fun finding these targets and we look forward to your reports on either or both.
Have fun out there!!!

:observer:
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Eyeballs, binoculars, sketch box, Scopes n stuff.
Some people don't understand why I love astronomy so much, I cannot understand why they do not!

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