2.4 KiB
| name | created_by | created_date | updated_by | updated_date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puppis | skybber | 2021-07-17 18:01:28.590886 | skybber | 2022-02-11 17:47:35.900917 |
A large constellation of the southern sky, the bulk of which rises above the horizon in our latitudes during the winter and spring months. The stern lies south of Procyon, below the Monoceros. It is bounded on the west by the Canis Major, on the east by the constellation of Compass, and can be observed entirely from the Mediterranean regions. The stern lies east and southeast of the Canis Major and the Milky Way passes through it. Because the dust clouds are relatively diffuse in this direction across the plane of our Galaxy, we can see outward to the galactic edge for long distances. As a result, the Puppis is very rich in diverse open clusters whose shape is very different at first glance. Some are very large and relaxed, more suitable for a binocular, some are relatively large and very rich and suitable for a small telescope, and some are faint and distant, requiring a larger telescope to see them better. The brightest of these is M47, easily visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch to the east of Sirius, next to another cluster, M46.
From the open cluster M93 (an inconspicuous fogspot), a bright, bright Milky Way belt stretches towards the interface of the Puppis, Vela and Compass. The first brightening is in the north of M93, around the stars ξ and ο Pupp. The next one, slightly larger and brighter, is in the southern part, where a number of faint purchased stars can be seen. The clusters Collinder 121 and 132 appear to be merely rich star field densifications. To the west of the bright Milky Way belt is a fairly conspicuous dark region that continues on into the constellation Vela and breaks up there. The area around the bright star π Puppy (2.7mag) looks very hazy and spotty. It is the brightest member of the large and poorly condensed open cluster Collinder 135, which is made up of 30 stars of a wide range of magnitudes in an area of one degree. At the northern boundary of the cluster lies a trio of bright fifth-magnitude blue stars. An even more striking brightening is found above the conjunction of the stars π and ζ Pupp. Individual stars also emerge from it. The brightest of these, the orange c Puppy (3.7mag), is part of the bright and relaxed cluster NGC 2451. In its vicinity lies another remarkable open cluster, NGC 2477 (5.7mag), very similar to M46 or NGC 7789 of Cassiopeia.