New Scientist - USA (2022-01-29)

52 | New Scientist | 29 January 2022

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What you need

Binoculars

IN THE northern hemisphere,

winter is still with us. That

means dark nights and plenty

of opportunity to look for fainter

targets in the sky. In the southern

hemisphere, nights are short,

but stargazing is still possible.

This week, we have two activities,

one for the amateur astronomers

of each hemisphere.

In the north, we are looking for

the Double Cluster. No prize for

surmising that this is a pair of star

clusters close together in the sky,

from our perspective. They are

young clusters that are, in fact,

800 light years from each other.

But if you have a pair of binoculars,

you will be able to get your eyes on

both at the same time.

The dark nights of February are

a great time to look for the Double

Cluster (pictured), especially

around the new moon on

1 February, when there will be

little-to-no moonlight. As usual

with fainter targets, make sure

you are away from light pollution

and give your eyes plenty of time

to adjust to the darkness – about

40 minutes. The Double Cluster

is in the constellation Perseus and

it can be found by first locating

Cassiopeia, the small W or

M-shaped constellation that

we have previously used to spot

Andromeda (2 October 2021).

You will need to draw an

imaginary line between the star

at the centre of Cassiopeia, known

as Navi, and the one next to it, in

the shallower of the two Vs, called

Ruchbah. Continue this line

and, just over halfway to the first

bright star you come to – Mirfak,

Both the northern and southern hemispheres have real celestial

treats to look out for at this time of year, says Abigail Beall

Stargazing at home

A gaze of two halves

in Perseus – is the Double Cluster.

You should be able to see the

clusters with the naked eye, but

binoculars will show much more

fascinating detail. Both clusters

are about 12.8 million years old,

much younger than the Pleiades

or Hyades clusters. They each

contain a few hundred hot

supergiant stars thousands of

times brighter than our sun.

For readers in the southern

hemisphere, February, March and

April are great months to look for

the Eta Carinae Nebula, aka the

Carina Nebula, in the constellation

Carina. It sits between the bright

star Canopus, also in Carina,

and the Southern Cross, in the

constellation Crux. The nebula

is 7500 light years from Earth and

is one of the biggest star-forming

regions in our galaxy. It has a

binary star system at its centre.

To spot the nebula, first find the

Southern Cross and then its stars

Acrux, the brightest star in the

cross, and Delta Crucis, next to it

looking anticlockwise around the

cross. Draw a line perpendicular

to a line between these stars and

follow it in the direction away

from the other two stars in the

cross. After roughly 5 degrees –

about the width of your three

middle fingers held at arm’s

length – you will be at the nebula

(it is near the Southern Pleiades,

a small cluster of stars). This is one

of the largest nebulae in the night

sky. Once found by eye, grab your

Stargazing at home binoculars for a clearer view. ❚

appears every four weeks

Next week

Science of gardening

Abigail Beall is a feature editor

at New Scientist and author of

The Art of Urban Astronomy

@abbybeall

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