AAQ Visual Observing Section

Selected Deep Sky Objects In Equuleus

Whilst Equuleus is not a prominent constellation, winter is a good time to find some of the gems hidden in it. This constellation is set amongst the northern areas of the Milky Way. All observations were made with a 150mm f8 refractor.

Nearby Gamma Equ. you should find Struve 2765 (21h 11.1m RA, +09° 24' Dec.) an attractive dainty pair of similar magnitude which can be just resolved with 120x. Whilst here, try to split Gamma Equ., I was unable to separate it with 240x.

Struve 2786 (21h 19.6m RA, +09° 32' Dec.) On the other side of Delta Equ. is another pretty pair very similar to Struve 2765.

Still further east is Struve 2793 (21h 25.2m RA, +09° 24' Dec.) an easy pair with 40x. Set in a pretty field look for the colour difference between the component stars.

2 Equ. (21h 02.2m RA, +07° 11' Dec.) You will need 120x to split this attractive pair of similar magnitude yellow stars.

1 Equ. / Struve 2737 (20h 59.2m RA, +04° 19' Dec.) This was my favourite object in Equuleus, and can be clearly seen with 40x. Look for a pale orange primary set in a field of bright stars sprinkled around this quadruple star system.

Click here for a finder chart for Equuleus looking north at 9:00 pm on 23 September 2006.

Click here for a chart showing the location of the deep sky objects in Equuleus mentioned above.

 

Back To Deep Sky Observing Articles

Back To Visual Observing Section Main Page

Astronomical Association of Queensland 2006. www.aaq.org.au