The American Association of Amateur Astronomers
The Constellation Aquarius -
The Water Bearer
The four constellations of Aquila, Aquarius, Capricornus,
and Delphinus lie relatively close to each other in a region of the
sky which is almost devoid of bright showpiece deep sky objects. Aquarius and Capricornus lie away from the main
body of the Milky Way, and mostly contain faint galaxies with only a few star clusters and nebulae. Aquila and
Delphinus, on the other hand, lie right along the Milky Way and contain some fine examples of planetary and dark
nebulae. Even though there are only four Messier objects in this entire region, there are still enough deep sky
targets to keep an astronomer busy on a summer night.
AQUARIUS
M-2 - A fine globular cluster, this object is about 10' in diameter and is relatively bright. It is sharply
concentrated to
the center, and is well resolved across its face. A fine object in an almost void region of the sky.
M-72 - Another globular cluster, this object is smaller than M-2, being about 6-8' in diameter. It is moderately
bright, and
is well concentrated to the center, showing resolution around the edges and a granulated core.
M-73 - With the possible exception of M-40 (a bland double star), this is probably the most disappointing
Messier object. It is merely a "Y" shaped asterism of 4 stars. They are probably not even gravitationally
bound to each other. In my humble opinion, if an asterism of stars deserves to have a Messier number, that honor
should rather be bestowed upon the "Stargate" asterism in Corvus.
NGC 7009 - The Saturn Nebula. This bright planetary nebula is about 20" in diameter, elongated
3:2 ENE-WSW. It is blue-green, and has obvious lobes protruding from opposite sides, giving the appearance of a
distant ringed planet.
NGC 7293 - The Helix Nebula. Lying at a distance of only about 325 light years, this planetary nebula
is probably the closest planetary nebula to us in space. Its light is spread out over about 15', so its surface
brightness is rather low. Easily seen in binoculars as a greyish circle of light, this object absolutely jumps
out of the eyepiece when observed with an O-III
filter.
Article © Copyright Rick Raasch
Photos © Copyright Edward P. Flaspoehler, Jr.
Messier Objects in Aquarius
|
Con
|
Messier
|
Type
|
R.A.
|
Dec.
|
Mag.
|
Size
|
NGC#
|
|
Aqr
|
M2
|
Globular Cluster
|
21h 33.5
|
-0d 49
|
7.5
|
12.9'
|
7089
|
|
Aqr
|
M72
|
Globular Cluster
|
20h 53.5
|
-12d 32
|
10.0
|
5.9'
|
6981
|
|
Aqr
|
M73
|
Open Cluster
|
20h 59.0
|
-12d 38
|
9.0
|
2.8'
|
6994
|
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