Animal Farm??

[petevasey]

Hi, all,

A couple of days ago I was browsing in Skymap Pro, and spotted an interesting asterism a degree or so South of M33.   The human brain is quite good at seeing shapes in the stars - witness the constellations.  And at first I could see a giraffe.  Then after another look, a chicken!  And had a bit of fun playing with images.  At least I was making use of cloudy nights!

Anyway, a nice clear sky (at last!) tonight (Monday) with a few hours of full darkness before the Moon rose.  So I set to with my QSI683 on my Meade 127 refractor (950mm fl), with the following results.  Luminance 16 x 5 minutes, RGB each 8 x 5 minutes, all unbinned.  I'd appreciate which you folks think is the better of the two creatures - of course we already have a 'giraffe' constellation, so this asterism would have to be called the 'Little Giraffe'.  The Giraffe is more elegant, but maybe the Chicken is a better fit.  So although I'm sure it's not a true cluster, the 'Chicken Cluster' might be appropriate.

Or of course, and probably the most likely reaction, bin the lot (although of course I'll keep the star image) 😉

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by petevasey
Improved fit of giraffe

[wimvb]

Ha, ha. Nice! Now, if you combine the chicken and the long neck, you end up with a grouse. Or have I been staring at that bottle for too long? 😉

[ollypenrice]

I go for the Giraffe because a chicken, though very good in a curry, does not have the long, elegant neck seen in the asterism!

Olly

[carastro]

What about a llama?  I always think Perseus looks like a giraffe, but maybe that's the constellation you are referring to anyway.

Carole 

[petevasey]

Thanks for the input, folks.  OK, Olly, I'll bow to your wealth of experience 😉 and call it the 'Giraffe Cluster' for now.  Probably different enough not to be confused with the constellation Camelopardalis.  It's now on my web page, with ID of faint galaxies and a large image of the stars, here.

Cheers,

Peter

[petevasey]

Hi, Carole,

No sooner said than done, and actually fits quite nicely 🙂

Cheers,

Peter

[wimvb]

I maintain, it should be the grouse cluster. 😋

Skål.

[don4l]

How about a duck?

I won't elaborate.

[petevasey]

2 hours ago, wimvb said:

I maintain, it should be the grouse cluster. 😋

Skål.

But where's the whisky?  😉

Cheers, (hic!)

Peter

[wimvb]

1 hour ago, petevasey said:

But where's the whisky?  😉

This is a non-commercial, family friendly forum. I don't want to get banned. If ever we meet irl, I'll buy you one. 

[tomato]

With those bright stars arching out on the right, please try a Velociraptor on for size, way more scary.

[petevasey]

Nice thought!  Unfortunately the body and neck are such that to get them and the legs to fit, much of the tail is lost as below.  I looked on the 'net for a better fitting pic, but not much success until I went for a different shape which is a better fit. 

Anyway, enough is enough.   I'd hoped one of my original choices might meet universal approval - a teeny claim to fame 😉  The giraffe is more elegant, but the chicken is a very good fit.  And FUN😄

Cheers,

Peter

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by petevasey

[petevasey]

Just a postscript.  Was at Kielder with friends over the weekend (22nd - 25th) - totally clouded and rained out all weekend, absolutely hopeless.  But spent some time discussing the above.  The general consensus was that the Giraffe is definitely the most elegant.  But I must admit to a sneaky regard for the Velociraptor.  The stars are of course an asterism, not a cluster, so I call the final pic 'Rapterism'. 😊  I think the raptor is 'Blue' from the Jurassic World movies - I hope I don't get in trouble with copyright, although to be fair the image was already on the internet!

Cheers,

Peter

Edited November 26, 2019 by petevasey

[tomato]

I don’t think Mr. Spielberg would mind if he saw it, but I don’t know which Hollywood conglomerate owns the franchise these days.

[Graham Darke]

You need to find something to fill in the time on a cloudy night at Calvert Peter. Do you remember Don Smith and Jack Newton’s mandolin and banjo duet?! 

[petevasey]

Hi, Graham,

No, I don't remember that soiree!  Must have been a time when I wasn't in their cabin.  Don is long gone, sadly, although his EQ6 mount still pays regular visits to Kielder with me.  And of course Jack lives in New Zealand.  When we were there in 2010 my wife and I visited him in Christchurch.  We left just four weeks before the big earthquake.  Jack's family were relatively lucky - their house was only slightly affected - temporary loss of services etc., but just a few hundred yards down the road it was liquefied!

Cheers,

Peter

Edited November 26, 2019 by petevasey