Deep Sky With Binoculars - Asterisms

Hay's Ring. It is a ring-shaped star pattern with a diameter of slightly more than 0.7°. The cluster NGC 225 is involved at the southeastern edge of the ring, the cluster Stock 24 lies slightly inside the western edge. From NGC 225 to Stock 24 a band of stars runs through the ring, with a short branch to the north. The northeastern edge of the ring is broken briefly. Long exposure photos actually show that a dark nebula band crosses the ring here.

The Parachutist, discovered by Katharina Zürn . In the cluster NGC 869 it is worth to have a closer look. In the center of this cluster a small, fine star pattern is visible. Around the 6m5 bright star V520 Per five stars with magnitudes from 8 mag form a narrow, outward (resp. southeast) curved arc. With some imagination the arc looks like a parachute and V520 Per is the guy hanging from the parachute.Another possible interpretation arises for all those who know the Glum Cyclops (NGC 7134). They will surely recognize here its friendlier brother, the Laughing Cyclops.

Image Source: DSS

Several faint stars form the ring and alpha UMi is the diamond. Very nice view in telescopes at low magnification. Visually much more apparent than on photographs.

The asterism shows a beautiful diamond shaped kite with a tail. Since there is no real Kemble list, only Kemble 1 and 2, this asterism would probably be Kemble 3 in such a list.

This star pattern consists of a chain of seven sparkling stars southeast of Alcyone, hence Ally's braid. It is often in the field of view, but rarely noticed. However, if you've ever photographed the Pleiades, this multicolored chain of stars really stands out. Good that it now has a name.

The DSS image shows only an extract of the region. On the southeastern end you can find the evident cluster NGC1502.

Image Source: DSS

Flying Minnow. This asterism is part of the cluster Melotte 31, which covers more than 2°. The pattern is formed by a group of five bright stars (including 18 Aur and 19 Aur) and several fainter members across nearly one degree in the constellation Auriga. It is located between IC 405 and IC 410.

Very large and bright cluster including also Orion's Belt.

The pattern is also known by the meaningful name 'Spermatozoon'. About 0.5° east of zeta Tau a row of relatively equally bright stars up to 10th magnitude begins. At the eastern end a 8m4 bright star together with two stars of about 11m0 form the tip of a triangle. This group of three stars looks slightly nebulous in telescopes with the right magnification and represents the head of the spermatozoon.

Southeast of the asterism is Messier 104 (bottom left corner on the DSS image). The shark seems to swim around Messier 104 clockwise.

This pattern was discovered by German amateur astronomer Andreas Wiegers in 2018 and shows a small dragon (Draco Minor) about 1° north of the galaxy Messier 94.

This pattern was first described in 2018 by the German amateur astronomer Norman Görlitz, which is located between a true physical double star with components BD+24 2733 and BD+24 2733B and a background star BD+24 2734. In the Hipparcos catalog the double star is listed as HIP 70529 and in the list of stars with the largest proper motion it is ranked 106th. The pair with a proper motion of 1.37" per year in southeast direction just passes the background star BD+24 2734, which has a similar brightness (9m5) and coloration (reddish/orange) as the double star components (9m9 and 9m7). In 2005 the three stars formed a straight line, now the line is bent, in 2036 they will form an isosceles triangle. In 2018 the distance of the eastern double star component to the background star was 33" and it widens by about 1" per year - enough to be tracked from year to year, photographically by all means, but also visually.

The upside down '5'. The star zeta Her makes it easy to find this pattern: a bit more than 1° southwest of this star some 7 to 10 mag bright stars clearly form an upside down '5'. A refractor with zenith mirror shows the '5' correctly sided.

On the additional DSS image, north is down and east is to the right.

Cleopatra's eye. A curved line of 15 stars up to 9m5 wraps around the cluster Messier 25 so that it looks like the eyeliner of Cleopatra's right eye. Messier 25 forms the actual eye in it. Usually star patterns provide a finding aid for deep sky objects, but here it is not clear whether Messier 25 or Cleopatra's eye is the finding aid. But wait: at the eastern end of the eyelid is the globular cluster Palomar 8.

Image by Markus Blauensteiner/CCD-Guide

Prominent cluster of brighter stars. On the eastern end the fairly faint open cluster NGC6802 can be found.

Dreaming child's face. This asterism was discovered by the German amateur astronomer René Merting in 2017 while trying to catch Roslund 4. A long, curved line of stars forms the silhouette of a child's face, and two groups of stars within glow slightly nebulous in binoculars like two closed eyes.

Hay's question mark. This asterism was discovered by the German amateur astronomer Christopher Hay in 2016 and shows the clear shape of a question mark. There are no notably bright stars in the immediate vicinity, so the pattern is quite apparent.

A nice star field around the yellow-orange shining star theta Del. Together with some brighter stars it forms an arrow which is broken. Around the arrow there are still many fainter stars.

A definite recommendation, because easy to find, evident and also suitable for small telescopes. The name 'Toadstool' comes from its appearance: The mushroom (why is it poisonous?) is tilted towards SW and shows a nicely curved cap. At the right side of the fungal stem you can find the galaxy NGC7025. We have named it lovingly 'Fußpilzgalaxie' (athlete's foot galaxy) ;-)

Rocketship.

Very large asterism with best view in binoculars at low magnification. This asterism looks like the Pleiades (Messier 45) and is dominated by the stars HD217382, HD217157, HD212710, HD221525 and 2 Cephei.