3,000 Deep-Sky Objects An Annotated Catalogue
The Annotated Catalog of 3,000 Deep-Sky Objects is a record of the most extensive and systematic visual survey of the sky done in modern times. The 3,000 deep-sky objects listed contain short descriptions of what these objects look like in the author’s po
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3,000 Deep-Sky Objects
An Annotated Catalogue
Patrick Moore’s
Practical Astronomy Series
Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series
For other titles published in this series, go to www.springer.com/series/3192
3,000 Deep-Sky Objects
An Annotated Catalogue Ted Aranda
Ted Aranda Chicago, USA [email protected]
ISSN 1431-9756 ISBN 978-1-4419-9418-9 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-9419-6 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9419-6 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932225 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012, Corrected at 2nd printing 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
For Our Mother, our Home, our Garden of Eden – Our little Blue Marble in the depths of space – And all who love her.
Preface
An amateur astronomer is observing galaxies in the constellation Cetus on a clear night at her favorite dark site. She notices that the galaxy currently in the eyepiece of her 12-inch telescope is considerably brighter than the previous one. It is also much more concentrated. In general she finds the large variation in the brightness and concentration of galaxies fascinating. But there must be something wrong. She has observed dozens of galaxies so far but has yet to see one with a distinct core or nucleus within its halo. Furthermore, in only a handful of galaxies has she seen any variation in the light other than a smooth, continuous concentration toward the center. And in these cases the irregularities have been quite vague; certainly they have not resembled spiral arms. Dawn is approaching. Our observer has had great fun tonight. But, once again, as in past observing sessions, she has failed to see in any but a few galaxies even a trace of the things that photographs show so spectacularly and routinely, that professional astronomers study so diligently, and that observing guidebooks urge their readers to look for so optimistically. She will try harder next time. Clearly there is something amiss in the above scenario. But the fault lies not with our intrepid observer, who no doubt saw many fine sights during her enchanted night under the stars. It lies instead with a body of astronomical literature that does not sufficiently acknowledge the vast and largely unbridgeable difference between the photo
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