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M49 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation of Virgo. It belongs to the Virgo cluster of galaxies, a large group of galaxies centered about 54 Million light-years from Earth. With an apparent magnitude of +8.4, M49 is the brightest member of this famous cluster. It's best seen during the months of March, April and May.
This galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier on February 19, 1771. He also discovered M46 and M48 on the same night and re-discovered M47, which was originally found by Giovanni Batista Hodierna sometime before 1654. After M83, M49 was the second galaxy discovered beyond the Local Group and the first member of the Virgo cluster to be found.
To locate M49, first imagine a line connecting Denebola (β Leo - mag. +2.1) with Vindemiatrix (ε Vir - mag. +2.8). The centre of the Virgo cluster is positioned about halfway along this line and M49 is located about 5 degrees south of this point.
NGC 4244, also known as Caldwell 26, is an edge-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. With an apparent magnitude of +10.0 it can be spotted with small telescopes under dark skies, but much easier with larger instruments. The galaxy appears highly flattened, spanning 16 x 2 arc minutes, and as a result is often referred to as the Silver Needle galaxy. It's a superb example of an edge-on needle spiral that's bettered only by NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices.
NGC 4244 was discovered by William Herschel on March 17, 1787. It's part of the M94 Group or Canes Venatici I group of galaxies, which contains at least 24 members. The galaxy is best seen from Northern Hemisphere locations during the months of March, April and May.
NGC 2775 is a magnitude +10.5 spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Cancer, close to its border with Hydra. This galaxy is unusual in that it contains a very smooth nucleus with multiple spiral arms extending outwards from the central region. What makes the spiral arms interesting are their incredible complex detail, tightly wound structures and active star formation. Amateur astronomers should also keep their eye on this galaxy; it's been host to 5 supernovae explosions in the past 30 years and you never know when the next one will go off!
To find NGC 2775 look for the head of Hydra "the Sea Serpent". The asterism of stars that forms the head are ω Hyd (mag. +5.0), ζ Hyd (mag. +3.1), ρ Hyd (mag. +4.4), ε Hyd (mag. +3.4), δ Hyd (mag. +4.1), σ Hyd (mag. +4.5) and η Hyd (mag. +4.3). None of these stars are particularly bright, but all can be seen with the naked eye. The galaxy is positioned a few degrees east and slightly north of this grouping.
NGC 2775 was discovered by William Herschel in 1783 and is best seen during the months of February, March and April. The galaxy is located 55.5 million light-years from Earth and has an actual diameter of 70,000 light-years. It's estimated to contain 100 billion stars. NGC 2775 is number 48 in the Caldwell catalogue.
M95 is a barred spiral galaxy about 36 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 20, 1781, which was the same night he discovered M96. Four days later, Charles Messier including both items in his catalogue. With an apparent magnitude of +10.3, it's visible in small telescopes. Together with M96 and M105 they form a close group of galaxies that are gravitationally bound. Of these, M96 is the brightest and the largest. The group is known as the Leo I or M96 group of galaxies and contains at least another 21 fainter galaxies. It's one of many groups that lie within the Virgo Supercluster. M105 was not included in the original Messier catalogue but added much later by Helen B. Sawyer Hogg in 1947.
The galaxies are best seen during the months of March, April and May.
M104, more commonly known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is a spectacular almost edge-on spiral galaxy in Virgo. At magnitude +8.4, it appears in binoculars as a small patch of nebulosity. Its most striking feature, which is visible in medium/large size amateur scopes, is a ring of thick dust encapsulating the galaxy bulge that gives it the appearance of a Sombrero hat. Many astronomers regard M104 as the finest of all the Virgo galaxies.
Pierre Méchain discovered M104 on May 11, 1781. A couple of years later he described it in a letter to Johann Bernoulli and later it was published in the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch (Berlin Astronomy Year Book). Charles Messier made some hand-written notes about the galaxy and five other objects, but none were included in his final published catalogue. It was finally added to the "official" catalogue in 1921 and the remaining "missing" items, (M105 to M109), were included a few years later.
In 1912, M104 was one of the first galaxies to have its spectra and velocity measured by Vesto Slipher. He noted that the object was redshifted and therefore receding from us. The current accepted rate is 900 km/s. Slipher's calculations along with measurements from other galaxies pointed towards an expanding Universe, providing a key piece of evidence for the Big Bang Theory.
Mercury
Mercury passed through superior conjunction (on the far side of the Sun) at the end of last month. From mid-latitude northern locations, the fast-moving planet will become visible low down in evening twilight towards the end of the second week of the month. Mercury then climbs higher each subsequent evening until greatest elongation east (GEE) is reached on February 27th. On this day, the planet will be positioned 18 east degrees of the Sun. From mid-latitude northern locations, it shines at magnitude -0.5 and appears 9 degrees above the western horizon 45 minutes after sunset.
From southern latitudes, due to the angle of the ecliptic, Mercury will be difficult to spot in evening twilight this month. Even at GEE it sets only forty minutes later than the Sun.
Venus
Venus remains a brilliant early morning star throughout February. Although, the planet dims from magnitude -4.3 to -4.1 as the month progresses it's easily brighter than any other planet or night-time star. At the same time, its illuminated phase increases from 62% to 72%. On February 18th, Venus passes a degree north of Saturn (mag. +0.6). At months end, Venus rises a couple of hours before the Sun.
Mars
Mars continues as evening object this month. However, it's now well past its best and as the month progresses fades from magnitude +0.9 to +1.2. Its angular size falls to about 5 arc seconds and therefore it's no longer possible to spot details on its pink surface. The waxing crescent Moon passes 6 degrees south of Mars on February 10th. On February 12th, Mars crosses the constellation border into Aries from Pisces. A day later it passes a degree north of much fainter Uranus (mag. +5.8). From northern locations Mars sets 5 hours after the Sun, although up to a couple of hours less for those located further south.
Mars and Uranus during February 2019 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)
Algol (β Per) is a bright eclipsing binary system located in the northern constellation of Perseus and one of the best-known variable stars in the sky. Often referred to as the "Demon Star", most of the time it shines at mag. +2.1 but every two days, 20 hours and 49 minutes it suddenly dips in brightness to mag. +3.4, remaining dim for about 10 hours before returning to its original state.
Why the brightness change. The Algol system consists of at least three-stars (β Per A, β Per B and β Per C) with the orbital plane of Algol A and B directly in line with the Earth. The regular dips in brightness occur when the dimmer B star moves in front of and eclipses the brighter A star. There is also an extra dimension in that a secondary eclipse occurs when the brighter star occults the fainter secondary, resulting in a very small dip in brightness that can be detected with photo-electrical equipment.
Algol is located in Perseus among the stars of the northern Milky Way. It's positioned west of mag. +0.1 Capella (α Aur) and southeast of the well known "W" of Cassiopeia. The finder chart below shows the position of Algol along with magnitude data of some surrounding stars for comparative purposes.
Finder Chart for Algol - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts.com)
M78 is an often forgotten nebula in the constellation of Orion. It's a reflection nebula that's part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a large cloud of gas and dust centered on the famous Orion Nebula (M42) and De Mairan's Nebula (M43). Also included in this grouping are NGC 2064, NGC 2067 and NGC 2071 and other nebulae. Reflection nebulae like M78 are clouds of interstellar dust that shine due to reflected and scattered light from nearby stars.
M78 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in early 1780 with Charles Messier adding it to his catalogue on December 17, 1780. Although only of 8th magnitude, finding M78 is easy since it's positioned just a few degrees northeast of Orion's famous belt. The three bright stars that make up the belt are Alnitak (ζ Ori - mag. +1.72), Alnilam (ε Ori - mag. +1.69) and Mintaka (δ Ori - mag. +2.25). Positioned 2.5 degrees northeast of Alnitak is M78.
Algol (β Per) is a bright eclipsing binary system located in the northern constellation of Perseus and one of the best-known variable stars in the sky. Often referred to as the "Demon Star", most of the time it shines at mag. +2.1 but every two days, 20 hours and 49 minutes it suddenly dips in brightness to mag. +3.4, remaining dim for about 10 hours before returning to its original state.
Why the brightness change. The Algol system consists of at least three-stars (β Per A, β Per B and β Per C) with the orbital plane of Algol A and B directly in line with the Earth. The regular dips in brightness occur when the dimmer B star moves in front of and eclipses the brighter A star. There is also an extra dimension in that a secondary eclipse occurs when the brighter star occults the fainter secondary, resulting in a very small dip in brightness that can be detected with photo-electrical equipment.
Algol is located in Perseus among the stars of the northern Milky Way. It's positioned west of mag. +0.1 Capella (α Aur) and southeast of the well known "W" of Cassiopeia. The finder chart below shows the position of Algol along with magnitude data of some surrounding stars for comparative purposes.
Finder Chart for Algol - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts.com)