WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 59brightness f luctuations. The discovery is
reminiscent of the one by Jay McNeil,
who in 2003 visually discovered a similar
object about 12' south of M78 in Orion.
About 10 stars of 8th magnitude and
fainter are easily visible through modest-
sized telescopes, including two doubles.
Through my 8-inch, the nebula is imme-
diately apparent as a circular, frosty glow
around the northeastern pair of stars —
like distant streetlights seen through a
frosted window pane. Those with larger
apertures should be able to spy the min-
iscule ref lection nebula hugging the 8th-
magnitude star immediately to the east
of Atik.
The cluster is adjacent to the dark
cloud known as Barnard 4. While this
is a difficult object visually, sweeping
back and forth from IC 348 to the
northern border of Taurus with a wide-
field eyepiece may yield a 30'-wide
absence of stars. It’s a subtle visual
effect, and one must be alert to see the
difference, but the effect is real, as the
region has an extinction of two magni-
tudes. While Barnard 4 is part of the
Perseus Molecular Cloud, it is an
extension of the Taurus dark clouds to
the northwest and has an opacity rating
of 6 (the darkest level).
About 5° north-northwest of Atik, we
find the 7th-magnitude open star cluster
NGC 1342. While this cluster is an
older background object, it shows how
far clouds associated with the Perseus
reach toward the north. At 60x through
a 5-inch scope, a dozen 8th- to 9th-
magnitude stars form an irregular
ellipse around a region of tiny f lecks
of dim stars that seem to scintillate
with averted vision.
Return to Zeta Persei and then slide 6°
to the east-southeast to find NGC 1579,
sometimes called the Northern Trifid
Nebula. This 12'-by-8' mottled ref lection
nebula, combined with a dusty star-
forming region, appears like a bright,
milky smudge through a 5-inch refractorat 33x. Increasing the magnification by a
factor of two or more will reveal a bright
core with a southern “pad” of nebulosity
with three “toes,” making it look like a
dinosaur’s ghostly footprint. While we
have ventured far from the Per OB2’s
bright triangle of stars on the two-
dimensional sphere, NGC 1579 may lie
2,000 light-years distant at the back of
the Per OB2 Association’s supershell,
where it is interacting with the neighbor-
ing Taurus Molecular Cloud Complex.
I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse
into one of the Milky Way’s youthful
nooks. Send any observations of note to
[email protected].Stephen James O’Meara is a contributing
editor of Astronomy and the author of
numerous books on deep-sky observing.
He’s also an expert volcano watcher.Another reflection nebula, NGC 1333, varies in
brightness with the variable star embedded
inside it. The 10th-magnitude star is easily visible
through a small telescope, but you’ll need a dark
sky to see the nebulosity. ADAM BLOCK/MOUNT LEMMON
SKYCENTER/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA