Hydra 1
By Shawn Grant
March is a time when we anxiously look forward to nicer weather. You will see the winter Milky Way setting in the west and the dark voids of extra galactic space rising out of the east. March is also a time to view the largest constellation Hydra the water snake. This constellation has a wide variety of objects including three Messier objects M83, M48 and M68.
We are going to explore deep into Hydra exploring a galaxy cluster called Hydra 1 also called Abell 1060. This is a large cluster spanning 3 degrees. It has over 50 galaxies and has many bright members. You can view many of the brighter members with an 8" but with all deep sky observing the larger the more you will see. The cluster is centered on a 4.5 magnitude star SAO 179041 that is located 4 degrees north of Alpha Antlia. SAO 179041 is a red star that is 480 light years away and is 203 times more luminous then our own sun.
Lets explore some of the brighter galaxies in Hydra 1. Start off by centering your scope on the 4.5 magnitude star SAO 179041. This star is a great reference for finding the galaxies and a point to move back to in case you get lost. The first Galaxy we are going to visit is NGC 3305. It is 12.9 magnitude and 1.1 X 1 arc minutes in size. You will find it 14 minutes northwest of SAO 179041. It is faint, diffuse with a stellar nucleus.
11 minutes to the east you will come to a small galaxy NGC 3315. It has a magnitude 14.3 but has a high surface brightness of 13.3. It is fairly faint, large, round with a slightly brighter middle.
There is a smaller galaxy cluster within Hydra 1 called Hickson 48 that is comprised of 4 tightly packed galaxies. You will find Hickson 48 9 minutes northeast of NGC 3315. The brightest of these galaxies is IC 2597. It is 2.5 X 1.7 minutes in size and fairly bright at 12.9 magnitude. The other three galaxies are PGC 31588 at magnitude 14.8, PGC 31577 at magnitude 16.3 and PGC 31580 at magnitude 16.7.
Move back to our reference star SAO 179041. We will explore 5 galaxies between SAO 179041 and a 6.6 magnitude star SAO 179027 just 16 minutes to the south of SAO 179041. Note the position of these two stars they will make a valuable reference.
11 minutes to the west of the star SAO 179041 is the galaxy NGC 3308. It is 13 magnitude and 2 X 1 minutes in size. It is faint, small and round with a slightly brighter middle. With large scopes observers have noted a mottled core.
Just 4 minutes to the southeast of NGC 3308 is NGC 3309. It is magnitude 12.5 and 1.9 X 1 minutes in size. It is fairly bright, little elongated and has a slightly brighter middle.
To the immediate east of NGC 3309 is NGC 3311. It is bright with a magnitude of 11.6 and 2.5 X 2 minutes in size. It is round even in surface brightness and has a faint stellar nucleus.
Just to the east is a spiral galaxy NGC 3312. It to is bright with a magnitude of 11.8. It is also large at 3.4 X 1.1 minutes in size. It has a concentrated stellar nucleus with a faint halo around it. 4 minutes to the west of NGC 3309 is NGC 3316. It is magnitude 12.6 and 1.4 X 2 minutes in size. It is small round with a brighter center.
I just covered the brighter few galaxies in Hydra 1. There are many more to the enthusiast with larger telescopes. Remember it is fun to dig deep and search for the unknown. The best part you don’t have to have a large scope for this.
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