BAS Observer November 2017

18 BAS OBSERVER Meridian constellations The constellation theme this month is water monsters. Cetus (the Sea Monster), also called the Whale, is an ancient Greek mythological creation of the god Poseidon, who placed the monster in the sea off the coast of King Cepheus’ kingdom. However, in the fight to save Andromeda from the sea monster, Perseus killed the monster and its carcass now lies in the sky. Hydrus is the male water snake located in the far southern sky near the south celestial pole. Cetus Cetus is best known for deep-sky galaxy hunting. Spiral galaxy M77 was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Mechain in 1780. Mechain passed his discovery on to Charles Messier, who listed it as his 77th object (so as not to confuse it with a comet). Messier 77 is located about 33 million light-years away. NGC 9 08 is a much fainter spiral galaxy located 58 million light-years distant from our Sun. Hydrus Hydrus (the Male Water Snake) is a rather empty constellation for observers. Most visitors to this region of the sky are drawn to the multitude of targets in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds that sit astride Hydrus; however, there is one very small globular cluster in the constellation, NGC 1466, that is worth seeking out. This cluster is located 160000 light-years from our Sun and so lies well beyond the outer edge of our Milky Way Galaxy. EQUULEUS DELPHINUS Cetus Hydrus Cetus Hydrus