We set off now on the final leg of the Celebration of Early Astronomy expedition, which will stop at our final basecamp in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association.

Dates

Start Date: February 25 2023
End Date: March 04, 2023

Distances

Basecamp Line: 3,055.73 Ly
Main Waypoints: 4,209.98 Ly
Optional Waypoints: N/A

Map, (click for full size):

Basecamp: J Centauri

Main Waypoints

• Map References quick reference list, more details below
  • NGC 752 DLM 167a
  • V518 Carinae
  • X1 Centauri
  • J Centauri

Main Waypoints Details

• Map Reference: NGC 752 DLM 167a
  • POI: Caldwell 28
  • Caldwell 28, also known as NGC 752 is an open cluster in the Andromeda constellation region of the sky as seen from earth. It was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783, and cataloged by her brother William Herschel in 1786, however an object that is now believed to be NGC 752 had also been described by Giovanni Batista Hodierna prior to 1654.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: V518 Carinae
  • POI: Caldwell 102
  • Caldwell 102, also known as the Southern Pleiades is an open cluster in the Carina constellation of the sky as seen from Earth. It was discovered by Abbe Lacaille in 1751 from South Africa. It is one of the closest clusters to our solar system, being only roughly 486 light-years from our solar system. Theta Carinae (also in game) is the brightest star in the cluster.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: X1 Centauri
  • X1 Centauri and X2 Centuari (another nearby system), are two stars near each other in the Centaurus constellation area of the sky as seen from earth. Both are late B-type main sequence stars. They are fairly bright and can be seen with the naked eye in dark enough viewing locations.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: J Centauri
  • POI: Scorpius-Centaurus Association
  • J Centauri is B-type main sequence star located in the Scorpius-Centaurus association, the nearest OB association and stellar formation region to our own solar system at a distance of about 420 light-years.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link

Optional Waypoints

No optional waypoints for this leg.

So this one isn’t a Caldwell cluster, but it is a prominent cluster in this area of the galaxy nonetheless, and there is a Caldwell cluster to swing by along the way.

Dates

Start Date: February 18 2023
End Date: February 25, 2023

Distances

Basecamp Line: 3,696.36 Ly
Main Waypoints: 4,650.81 Ly
Optional Waypoints: N/A

Map, (click for full size):

Basecamp: S171 7

Main Waypoints

• Map References quick reference list, more details below
  • Kappa Cassiopeiae
  • NGC 457 124
  • S171 7

Main Waypoints Details

• Map Reference: Kappa Cassiopeiae
  • Kappa Cassiopeiae is a runaway blue supergiant star, moving at about 2.5 million miles per hour relative to its neighbors. It’s stellar wind and magnetic field create a bow shock 4 light years ahead of the star, which reaches behind the star as well for a total bow shock length of 12 lightyears.
    
    Additionally is has an unusual spectrum with unusually weak nitrogen lines for a B-class star.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: NGC 457 124
  • POI: Caldwell 13
  • Caldwell 13, also known as NGC 457, as well as The Dragonfly Cluster is an open cluster of stars in the Cassiopeia constellation area of the sky. It is generally an easy target for amateur astronomers as it can be seen with small telescopes even in light-polluted skies.
    
    Two bright stars, Phi Cassiopeia and HD 7902 form the eyes of the dragonfly in this cluster.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: S171 7
  • POI: S171
  • Sharpless 171 is an emission region in the larger star forming complex known as NGC 7822. One of the hottest known stars discovered within a kiloparsec of the sun is found here, HIP 139 with a surface temperature over 45,000 Kelvin.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link

Optional Waypoints

No optionals for this leg.

Dates

Start Date: February 11 2023
End Date: February 18, 2023

Distances

Basecamp Line: 757.11 Ly
Main Waypoints: 1,629.80 Ly
Optional Waypoints: N/A

Map, (click for full size):

Basecamp: BD+60 327

Main Waypoints

• Map References quick reference list, more details below
  • HD 15558
  • BD+60 327

Main Waypoints Details

• Map Reference: HD 15558
  • POI: IC 1805 Cluster
  • The IC 1805 cluster is the cluster which the Heart Nebula is also a part, the brightest part of the cluster is also separately classified as NGC 896 as it was the first part of the cluster to be discovered.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: BD+60 327
  • POI: Caldwell 10
  • Caldwell 10 also known as NGC 663 is an open cluster in the Cassiopeia area of the sky as seen from Earth. It is considered bright enough to be detected with the naked eye in a dark enough sky. The cluster is of extra interest to astronomers because of the high number of Be class stars, with a total of about 24 discovered in real life.
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link

Optional Waypoints

The optional waypoints for this leg is to simply scout out any stars you can within the cluster. There is a shared discoveries spreadsheet available at this link: https://theexpedition.info/Caldwell1 to keep track of what has already been scouted by the group and what needs to be scouted still. Please make sure to record any progress there as well!

For the next week we will be doing an in-depth survey of the cluster known as Caldwell 14. Discovering, mapping, and bio-scanning anything we can find in there, and logging it to our discoveries spreadsheet for the leg, which can be found: here

Dates

Start Date: January 14, 2023
End Date: February 4, 2023

Distances

Basecamp Line: 480.18 Ly
Main Waypoints: 480.18 Ly
Optional Waypoints: N/A

Map, (click for full size):

Basecamp: BD+56 472

Main Waypoints

• Map References quick reference list, more details below
  • Bubble Sector PD-S B4-4
  • Hypoae Ain MO-I d9-37
  • BD+56 472

Main Waypoints Details

• Map Reference: Bubble Sector PD-S b4-4
  • POI: Bubble Nebula
  • Insert Description
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: Hypoae Ain MO-I d9-37
  • POI: Heart & Soul Nebulae
  • Insert Description
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link
• Map Reference: BD+56 472
  • POI: Caldwell 14
  • Insert Description
  • SIMBAD Link
  • EDSM Link

Optional Waypoints

The optional waypoints for this leg is to simply scout out any stars you can within the cluster. There is a shared discoveries spreadsheet available at this link: https://theexpedition.info/Caldwell1 to keep track of what has already been scouted by the group and what needs to be scouted still. Please make sure to record any progress there as well!