Constellation of the Month: May
Libra Sign of the Zodiac (The Scales)

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

Contents
Small Scope Objects    Big Scope Objects    Challenge Objects    Maps    Photos

Small Scope Objects:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  48 Librae 15hr 58m -14° 17' A slightly variable star (mag 4.8 - 5.0). Shows unusual emmision lines due to a rapidly moving gas shell.
  d Librae 14hr 58m -08° 19' An Algol-type eclipsing variable, mag 4.79 to 5.93 with a period of 2.32735 days. Max to min and Min to max each take almost 6 hours when the darker companion eclipses the primary star.
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Big Scope Objects:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  Merrill 2-1 15hr 22m -23° 38' A small 12th mag planetary nebula, 6 arc seconds in size. Central star magnitude 15.4.
  NGC 5595 14hr 24m -16° 43' An Sc spiral galaxy, mag 12.6, 2.2 x 1.2 arc min. Look for NGC 5597 4 arc minutes S.E. at mag 12.6
  NGC 5728 14hr 42m -17° 15' A mag 12.3 SBb barred spiral, 3.1 x 1.7 arc min.
  NGC 5792 14hr 58m -01° 05' A large Sbpec galaxy mag 12.1, 7.2 x 1.7 arc min.
  NGC 5861 15hr 09m -11° 19' A smaller Sbpec galaxy mag 12.3, 3 x 1.6 arc min with a weak, mottled core in large scopes. Look for mag 13.8 NGC 5858, an E6 galaxy 9.5 arc min N.W.
  NGC 5878 15hr 14m -14° 16' Located 3° south of NGC 5861, this mag 12.4 Sb spiral measures 3.5 x 1.4 arc minutes.
  NGC 5885 15hr 15m -10° 05' A mag 12.3 spiral galaxy, almost face-on. 3.5 x 3.0 arc minutes in size.
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Challenge Object:

Name R.A. Decl. Details
  NGC 5897 15hr 17m -21° 01' A difficult globular cluster, mag 8.4, size 11 arc minutes (RASC Deep Sky Challenge list and Herschel 400 list) Stars are mag 17 and fainter.
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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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