Constellation of the Month: November
Cepheus (The King of Ethiopia)

by: John Mirtle.
Page last updated: May 3, 2004

Contents
Naked Eye Objects    Small Scope Objects    Big Scope Objects    Challenge Objects    Maps    Photos

Naked Eye Objects:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  d Cepheus . . Variable star, period of 5.366 days. Varies from magnitude 3.5 to 4.4
  m Cepheus . . The "Garnet star" Long term irregular variable red giant. Varies from magnitude 3.6 to 5.1 over a rough period of 755 days. (May also vary in colour.)
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Small Scope Objects:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  NGC 7510 23hr 11.5m +60° 34' Open cluster of 60 stars magnitude 9.7 and fainter. Total integrated magnitude 7.9 with a diameter of 4 arc minutes.
  NGC 40! 00hr 13.0m +72° 32' Bright planetary nebula, 37 arc seconds in size. Magnitude 10.7, with a mag. 11.6 central star. (110NGC)
  NGC 7762 23hr 50m +68° 02' Open cluster of 40 stars magnitude 11 and fainter. Total magnitude 10 with a diameter of 11 arc minutes.
  NGC 6939! 20hr 31.4m +60° 38' Rich open cluster of 80 stars, magnitude 12 and fainter. Magnitude 7.8 with a diameter of 8 arc minutes. (110NGC) Look for galaxy NGC 6946 in the same field.
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Big Scope Objects:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  NGC 6946! 20hr 34.8m +60° 09' This face-on spiral, near NGC 6939 lies at a distance of 5 Megaparsecs. Measuring 11x9.8 arc minutes has an integrated magnitude of 8.9 (110NGC)
  NGC 7023 21hr 02m +68° 12' This faint, featureless reflection nebula measures 18 arc minutes in size and requires good dark skies.
  NGC 188 00hr 44m +85° 20' Only 4° from Polaris, this faint open cluster is one of the oldest known at 5 billion years. A difficult cluster to resolve, most of the 120 stars fall between mag 12 and 18.
  IC 1470 23hr 05m +60° 15' This small emission nebula measures 70 x 45 arc seconds, with a 12th magnitude star embedded near the center.
  NGC 7129! 21hr 42.8m +66° 06' Faint reflection nebula around sparse cluster. 7 x 7 arc minutes.
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Challenge Objects:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  IC 1396 21hr 39m +57° 30' This emission nebula covers almost six square degrees of sky. On good dark nights appears as a brightening in the milky way. Use lowest magnification or finder with a nebula filter.
  NGC 2276
(ARP 114)		 07hr 11m +85° 52'
(1950)		 A small Sc spiral. Magnitude 12.4, measuring 2.5 x 2 arc minutes. Look for NGC 2300 in same field.
  NGC 2300
(ARP 25)		 07hr 16m +85° 59'
(1950)		 A small E2 elliptical galaxy. Mag 12.2, measuring 1.0 x 0.7 arc minutes.
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Constellation Maps:

Lines No Lines Reverse Reverse No Lines


Lines No Lines Reverse Reverse No Lines No Map

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Photos:

 
Photo 1
South is at top to match the view in an inverting telescope.
Photo credit: John Mirtle.
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