Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

globular clusters

The ‘Intergalactic Wanderer’

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

A snapshot of NGC 2419, the ‘Intergalactic Wanderer’, captured with an 85mm refractor and ZWO ASI290MM camera.

Conjured by Johann Hevelius in the late renaissance, the dim, linear constellation Lynx fills in the space between the much larger constellations Gemini, Auriga, and Ursa Major, just out of the plane of the northern Milky Way. While it doesn’t much resemble its namesake and contains no bright stars, Lynx harbors one of our galaxy’s most distant outliers, the famous ‘Intergalactic Wanderer’ (NGC 2419), a globular cluster that roams the desolate expanse between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy [Read more…] about The ‘Intergalactic Wanderer’

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From the Observer’s Log: Four Great Globs

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Four globular clusters visible in the May sky as imaged with a Mallincam Xtreme camera, 30 s exposure, through a VRC-6 telescope.
Four globular clusters visible in the May sky as imaged with a Mallincam Xtreme camera, 30 s exposure, through a VRC-6 telescope.

While it may take a little practise to see the subtle differences in each of these balls of ancient stars, and despite claims of many beginning stargazers, all globular clusters do not look the same. The images above show four of the brightest globular clusters visible in a telescope this time of year. Each has a distinctive appearance, pattern, and brightness gradient. All images were taken with the same exposure and filter and with the same 6″ RC telescope so you can get an idea of their comparative appearance [Read more…] about From the Observer’s Log: Four Great Globs

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