In this episode of Star Hopping with Kissimmee
Park Observatory, we'll look at the Cepheus
region, and show you how to find these beautiful
deep sky objects:
The Cocoon Nebula
The Iris Nebula
And the Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946
Alright, Let's Go Star Hopping!

Hey 
Hello Hi and welcome to Episode 38 of Star
Hopping with Kissimmee Park Observatory!
I'm Dave Hearn, and it makes me feel chipper
to be your host.
In this series of programs we'll show you
the most beautiful sights in the night sky,
and explain exactly how to find them with
your binoculars or telescope.
So tonight we’re going to investigate another
constellation well up in the northeast in
mid July.
It’s Cepheus the King, mate to Cassiopeia
the Queen that we discussed last week.
Although Cepheus lies a little outside the
swath of faint light that is the Milky Way,
there are still many great deep sky objects
in the area.
But as a warning, the three targets tonight
are pretty faint, and will require larger
telescopes, so I’ll be giving you a bit
of a challenge.
You’ve had it easy the last few weeks with
our Star Hopping targets, so it’s time to
do a little work.
But these types of targets are the most rewarding
when you find them.
I don’t get much of a chance to image objects
in Cepheus because of a large tree that lives
just northeast of the Observatory.
Additionally our little town of Saint Cloud
is in that direction, so the local Walmart
tends to create a pretty good light dome in
the northeast sky.
We’re much better off to the south.
So Cepheus is not a very well known constellation
because it is not particularly bright, but
it does have one bright star, called Alderamin,
which we will use as our home base.
Cepheus is located between Cassiopeia, Cygnus,
and the massive circumpolar constellation
of Draco the Dragon.
As far south as Florida, it never sets and
is in the sky all night, although it’s best
seen through the summer months as it rises
high into the northeastern sky.
So we’re going to start off with a tougher
object tonight, aimed at those of you with
large scopes, say 10” or larger.
We’ll check out the home of a celestial
butterfly, right after this message.

Star Hopping Target #1
The 
Cocoon Nebula, IC 5146, is a faint but beautiful
combination of nebulae across the border into
the constellation of Cygnus.
Like other stellar nurseries, the Cocoon Nebula
holds a bright red emission nebula, blue reflection
nebulae, and dark absorption nebulae.
Inside the Cocoon is a developing cluster
of stars.
The massive central star provides the energy
source for much of the light coming from this
nebula.
So what you’ll be looking for primarily
is the open cluster associated with the nebula.
Once you’ve found that you should pop in
your light pollution rejection filter, like
an Oxygen III filter, in order to see the
nebula.
So let’s hunt down the Cocoon.
Let’s start out at bright Alderamin in Cepheus.
Move 5 degrees down to the lower right to
the famous Mu Cephei, also known as Herschel’s
Garnet Star.
Note the deep orange-red color of this star.
So this next one is a bit tough - move 7 degrees
across the border into Cygnus to 4th magnitude
Aselfafage.
Now move 2 degrees to the lower right to 4th
magnitude Pi 2 Cygni.
Now move about 2 1/2 degrees in the same direction
and you will pick up a star cluster.
Pop in your nebular filter and see if you
can pick up the round shape of the Cocoon
Nebula.
This is definitely considered a challenge
object, but it does have some size at 12 minutes
of arc.
So next is another somewhat difficult object
but there is a beautiful open cluster associated
with it, so those of you with both small and
large scopes can get in on this one.
We’ll locate it, right after this.
Star Hopping Target #2
The Iris Nebula is a gorgeous reflection nebula
behind a nice open cluster.
The nebula is centered around a 7th magnitude
star.
Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material
surrounds a hot, young star.
The main color of the brighter reflection
nebula is blue, which is characteristic of
dust grains in the surrounding area reflecting
the starlight.
To find this cosmic flower, we’ll again
start at the bright start Alderamin.
Move about 7 degrees to the lower left to
the fairly bright 3 magnitude star Alfirk.
So here’s a leap of faith - move about 3
degrees up and slightly right to locate the
open cluster associated with the Iris Nebula.
So do the same trick as last time and screw
that nebular filter onto your eyepiece, and
see if you can pick up any of the nebulosity.
NGC 7023 is a gorgeous object in long exposure
astrophotos.
There are several dark nebulae areas that
block the glow of the nebula behind them.
The Iris Nebula is about 6 light-years across,
and lies some 1,300 light-years away.
We’ll finish up this episode with a galaxy
that is currently setting off fireworks.
We’ll find it, right after this.
Star Hopping Target #3
The Fireworks Galaxy, cataloged as NGC 6946
is another somewhat faint 9th magnitude galaxy
in the constellation of Cepheus.
The reason it have been named the Fireworks
Galaxy is that there have been nine supernovae
identified within the galaxy over the last
100 years.
This beautiful face-on spiral spans nearly
40,000 light-years across, and it’s set
in a field of foreground stars from our galaxy.
This galaxy appears quite close to the plane
of our own Milky Way galaxy, so it’s partially
obscured by all the interstellar matter found
in this part of the sky.
This one is an easier star hop that the last
two.
Let’s start once again from 2nd magnitude
Alderamin.
Move 3 degrees upward to 3rd magnitude Eta
Cephei.
Now move about two degrees to the upper right
to find a pair of 6th magnitude stars.
Now move about a degree and a half straight
up to locate the exploding Fireworks Galaxy.
So why is this galaxy so active?
It seems to be undergoing a tremendous burst
of star formation with really no obvious cause.
In many cases spirals light up when interacting
with another galaxy, but The Fireworks Galaxy
appears relatively isolated 
in space.
Review
So let’s review.
We started off with the beautiful Cocoon Nebula,
actually found across the border into the
constellation of Cygnus the swan.
Then we moved back into the center of Cepheus
to locate the mysterious looking reflection
nebula, the Iris Nebula.
Finally we moved just a bit above our signpost
star Alderamin to find the galaxy with a history
of generating supernovas, NGC 6946, otherwise
known as the Fireworks Galaxy.
So that does it for this week’s episode.
You can find the show notes on our website
at kpobservatory.org/SH038, where you can
comment and leave any questions that you may
have.
Well I can’t believe that KPO’s European
Astronomy Tour is almost here.
Next week will be the last Star Hopping episode!
Well not for good, don’t worry!
The Astronomy Tour will last for 10 weeks
while I’m galavanting around Scandinavia
and the UK.
After that, around the middle of September,
I will be back with Star Hopping to guide
you though the Autumn night skies.
So if you would like to get some of the inside
scoops on the amazing places we’ll be visiting
on our 9 country tour, you can sign up for
our KPO European Astronomy Tour mailing list
on our website at kpobservatory.org/euro-astro-tour.
This newsletter will contain links to movies
and images that won’t be presented in the
regular episodes.
Also on that page you can see our actual publish
dates for the specific episodes.
It’s going to be an amazing trip, and I’d
love to take you with me virtually!
Well thank you very much for joining me here,
and I’ll see you next week with more Star
Hopping tips and tricks.
I'm Cassie, and I hope you've enjoyed star
hopping around the Milky Way.
We'll continue to bring you these video astronomy
tutorials every week on Thursday, and in their
podcast format on Fridays.
They will be designed to help you find deep
sky objects that are up in the sky at the
time we post them on the Internet.
The reason we create these video and podcasts
is to help beginning amateur astronomers learn
the sky and get more enjoyment out of their
telescopes and astronomy in general.
If you have any requests or suggestions of
potential targets in the night sky that you
would like to see us present, just let us
know down in the comment section below, or
on our website blog.
Don’t miss our free Field Notes for this
episode, basically the script of the show,
with all the images and start charts we use
for our star hopping activities.
You can get them for free at kpobservatory.org/FieldNotes.
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We'd love to hear from you to discuss all
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Well thanks again for watching, and we'll
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Park Observatory.

