galactic center, and lots of deep sky wonders

Event Date: February 15th

Time: 5:30 AM

Brief

   Yesterday, I showed Scorpious and Sagittarius, with a slight emphasis at one point, on Antares, being the "heart" star of the Scorpion.  It is interesting that this star is close to a "heart" of a different type: the galactic center, with the two constellations on either side.  This area of the sky is rich of deep sky sights: nebulae and star clusters.  I will label some of those below, for when the constellations and deep sky just high enough up to see.  They are not magnified to see easily, yet I plan to do that when they become slightly higher in dark enough sky during the mornings of next season with a dark enough sky.  Also shown, is the galactic grid's main lines: the meridian and equator, only 17.3º from Antares.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

  As seen above in image two, it is a crowded area of [telescopic], deep sky.  However, that is only a tiny percentage of what is there!  Many more dozens to hundreds of nebulae lie across the visible spectrum of the Milky Way, which I keep dim in the images since most locations have too much light to see it easily.  The center received a great deal of attention two months ago as the Mayan calendar came to a close.  Why?  Many people who were freaking out about the calendar ending, signifying the "end of the world" (yeah whatever), figured that the Earth and Sun would line up with the galactic center where there is a black hole, and a huge apocalypse would occur.  Of course, this never happened, as the Sun never lines up at the intersection of the galactic equator and meridian.  To review that, take a look at this entry.  The Sun passes the center by about 6º each year, although when crossing the meridian.