All About Space - UK (2020-02)

Aswinterturnstospringtheverynatureof

thenightskychanges.Gonearewinter’sbright

stars,boldconstellationsandobviousdeep-sky

delightssuchastheOrionNebula,thePleiades

andopenclusterM35.Replacingthemaresubtler

constellationsdrawnwithdimmer,less-obvious

stars,anda hostofdeep-skyobjectsthatareas

distantastheyarefaint.

ApartfromthebeautifulglobularclusterM53,

whichisalwayswortha lookona clearnight,

thismonth’schallengesaregalaxiesdozensof

lightyearsfromEarth.Theylieintwoofthe

mostoverlookedconstellations– CanesVenatici

andComaBerenices.Allarelovelysightsinlarge

telescopesanddeservetobeseenjustasmuchas

winter’smorefamous‘celebrity’featuressuchas

theOrionNebulaandHorseheadNebula.Indeed,

NGC4565,theNeedleGalaxy,isoneoftheloveliest

galaxiesinthesky,farmoreimpressivethanmany

muchbetter-knownedge-ongalaxiessuchasM82.

Intriguing galaxies

and sparkling clusters

Deep sky challenge

STARGAZER

Spring is finally here, so now’s the time to go

hunting in Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici

Messier 53

Black Eye Galaxy

(Messier 64)

© NASA;ESA © NASA;ESA