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Hidden Gems
SetIII "Winter's Pearls."
Challenge Deep Sky Targets SET III for the return of light: March 1st β 31st.
The Official Target list - Set III Β March 1st - 31st
The Official Target list - Set III Β March 1st - 31st
T27 - M81 & M82
Ursa Major (Big Dipper)
Bode's & Cigar Galaxies
Bode's & Cigar Galaxies
SHOWPIECE: A monumental deep-sky galaxy duo featuring a majestic, winding spiral and its scarred, cigar-shaped companion, caught in a gravitational tug-of-war that ignites brilliant starburst activity and reveals the sheer scale of galactic interaction.
T28 - NGC 2261, C46
Monoceros
Hubbleβs Variable
Hubbleβs Variable
SPECTRE: A shimmering, fan-shaped reflection nebula that acts as a celestial "light show," where shifting dust shadows from the central star R-Monocerotis create a haunting, ever-changing glow reminiscent of a ghostly comet frozen in deep space.
T29 - SH 2-274
Gemini
Medusa Planetary
Medusa Planetary
SPECTRE: A haunting, braided planetary nebulaβone of the largestβof serpentine filaments weaving a complex web of red and blue, echoing the legendary tresses of its namesake as it slowly dissolves into the interstellar medium after nearly 9,000 years of expansion.
T30 - M65, M66, NGC 3628
Leo
Leo Triplet Galaxies
Leo Triplet Galaxies
SHOWPIECE: A spectacular three-for-one galactic portrait featuring two high-contrast spirals and the "Hamburger Galaxy," a massive edge-on disk with a thick dust lane, all captured in a single frame as they interact across 35 million light-years of space.
T31 - NGC 2467Β
Canis Major
Skull & Crossbones
Skull & Crossbones
ECHO: A fierce, glowing star-forming region in Canis Major, where intense radiation from young stars has carved out a haunting cosmic visage of hollow "eyes" and a jagged "jaw" amidst a sea of churning gas and dark dust.
T32 -M51Β
Canes Venatici
Whirlpool Galaxy
Whirlpool Galaxy
SHOWPIECE: A breathtaking cosmic collision where a majestic grand-design spiral is caught in the act of devouring a smaller companion, creating a swirling bridge of stars and glowing gas that serves as the ultimate showcase for galactic interaction.
T33 - SH 2-290
Cancer
Abell 31Β
Abell 31Β
ECHO: A colossal, ancient "ghost" βspanning half the width of a full moonβrepresenting one of the largest planetary nebulae in our sky. Moving through the galaxy at high speed, its southern rim is being compressed into a brilliant "bow shock," while its northern edge dissolves into the interstellar vacuum, marking the final, 130,000-year-old exhale of a dying white dwarf.
T34 - M84, M86, NGC 4435...
Leo / Virgo
Markarian's Chain
Markarian's Chain
SHOWPIECE: Anchored in the heart of the Virgo Cluster, a graceful arc of eight major galaxies drifts in a gravitational embrace. This formation serves as a stunning laboratory of interaction, featuring the famous "Eyes" (NGC 4435/38), where tidal forces are actively stripping gas and distorting disks across millions of light-years of space.
T35 -SH 2-294
Monoceros
OctopusΒ
OctopusΒ
ECHO: A compact HII emission region in Monoceros, near the Seagull Nebula, this "cosmic cephalopod" is ionized by the high-energy ultraviolet radiation of the central 9th-magnitude star BD-09 1639, exciting the surrounding hydrogen gas into a distinct glowing "head" and faint, sprawling filaments that trace the local interstellar magnetic fields.
T36 -M101
Ursa Major
Pinwheel Galaxy
Pinwheel Galaxy
SHOWPIECE: A staggering "Grand Design" spiral in Ursa Major, nearly twice the diameter of our own Milky Way, showcasing a sprawling disk of over a trillion stars and brilliant pink HII regions where massive new suns are currently being born across its winding, symmetrical arms.
WildCards
T37N - NGC 7320, NGC 7319, NGC 7318 a,b, NGC 7317
Pegasus
Stephan's Quintet
Stephan's Quintet
SPECTRE: A breathtaking deep-sky vista in Pegasus featuring a violent laboratory of five colliding galaxiesβcomplete with intergalactic shockwaves and tidal tailsβanchored by the majestic "Grand Design" spiral NGC 7331 and its family of distant background "fleas."
T38S - SH 2-301
Canis Major
Gum 5
Gum 5
ECHO: An emission nebula in Canis Major, an energetic central cluster ionizes a dense cloud of hydrogen to create a glowing red "bubble" of gas. This relic is a massive HII region nearly 19,000 light-years away, featuring intricate dark dust lanes that carve through the nebulaβs core as new stars are forged from the collapsing interstellar medium.
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