NGC 246 Skull Nebula Captured from Pearly Bea...
NGC 246 (also known as the Skull Nebula or Caldwell 56) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cetus (The Whale), discovered by William Herschel in 1785.
Stargazing evening 10th February 2018.
February's stargazing evening will be held on Saturday 10th from 20:30 onwards. Everyone is welcome, so do come and join us for an evening under the stars in Pearly Beach. High above the western horizon on the evening stretches the extensive constellation Eridanus (The River). The 6th largest in the sky, it meanders from the celestial equator far into the south celestial hemisphere. The course of the river starts at the right foot of Orion The Hunter and ends at the bright star Achernar (alpha Eridani), from Arabic meaning the end of the river. The constellation contains a number of distant galaxies and deep-sky objects, most of which are too faint for small telescopes, but it does have an impressive list of double and multiple stars that will be pointed out on the evening. One of these is the triple system omicron Eridani, which contains one of the most easily observed white dwarfs in the sky near the primary star, which is a Sun-like yellow dwarf. Telescopes reveal a third component, a red dwarf completing the trio. Contact Kos Coronaios on 079 148 4934 or via email at elephantcastle@lantic.net for more details on Club events.
Southern Cape Astronomy Club meets at least once a month for stargazing or observation evenings close to new Moon or during astronomical related events. The well-established club is based in Pearly Beach just outside Gansbaai.
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Read MoreNGC 246 (also known as the Skull Nebula or Caldwell 56) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cetus (The Whale), discovered by William Herschel in 1785.
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Just a quick stack of a few DSO's from the early hours on Sunday morning (11/10/2026).
Three images with an S30 Pro on EQ mode from last night (04/1/2026).
With the Moon out of the way and weather improving somewhat, there was a few hours gap last night for collecting a few photons.
We've had some good weather the last couple of weeks; here are a few astro images.