Steve Gottlieb | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 4, 1949 |
| Known for | Amateur astronomy, NGC/IC Project |
Steven Michael Gottlieb (born April 4, 1949) is an American amateur astronomer, researcher, writer and lecturer.
Steve Gottlieb | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | April 4, 1949 |
| Known for | Amateur astronomy, NGC/IC Project |
Steven Michael Gottlieb (born April 4, 1949) is an American amateur astronomer, researcher, writer and lecturer.
Gottlieb grew up in the Los Angeles area, later moving to Northern California. In 1973, he earned a master's degree in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. Settling in the town of Albany, he taught high school mathematics in the East Bay for 37 years. [1]
Gottlieb began systematically observing Messier objects in 1977, using a 6-inch reflecting telescope. He employed many different scopes over the years, observing from dark sky sites near the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sierra Nevada foothills and star party events in California and elsewhere. By 2017, he had logged all 7,840 entries of the NGC Catalogue, completing the list after several visits to the southern hemisphere. [1] His resulting compendium of observing reports has become a valuable resource for amateur astronomers. [2]
Gottlieb describes himself as a "hardcore visual observer", having never developed an interest in astrophotography. For him, "it's always been about the aesthetics at the eyepiece in a large scope". [1] Currently his main telescope is a 24-inch StarStructure Dobsonian with computerized GoTo system. [1]
As Gottlieb's interests developed, he researched at the nearby UC Berkeley astronomy library, comparing his observations with those of professionals and with the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. While so doing he discovered numerous errors and conflicting data, so began corresponding with other astronomers including Dr. Harold Corwin of the University of Texas. [1]
Gottlieb thus became one of the principal investigators of the NGC/IC Project, a collaboration among professional and amateur astronomers to identify and image objects, compile historical observations and correct mistakes in the NGC and IC catalogues. [3] [4] [5]
While helping to put the catalogues in order, he also worked with various telescope makers to correct the databases of computerized DSCs (digital setting circles) and GoTo systems. Later he gathered the list of objects and wrote descriptions for the "DeepMap 600", a popular folding star chart. [1]
In the 1980s Gottlieb began writing articles for astronomy magazines about observing galaxy groups, various types of nebulae, supernova remnants and other topics. He is a Contributing editor for Sky and Telescope magazine, and his observing articles are often featured in the "Going Deep" column. [6]
Gottlieb promotes visual observing through public lectures for astronomy and science groups in Northern California and elsewhere. [7] [8]
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers make contributions in doing citizen science, such as by monitoring variable stars, double stars, sunspots, or occultations of stars by the Moon or asteroids, or by discovering transient astronomical events, such as comets, galactic novae or supernovae in other galaxies.
Charles Messier was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and faint star clusters, which came to be known as the Messier objects. The purpose of the catalogue was to help astronomical observers distinguish between permanent and transient visually diffuse objects in the sky.
The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxies, star clusters, emission nebulae and absorption nebulae. Dreyer published two supplements to the NGC in 1895 and 1908, known as the Index Catalogues, describing a further 5,386 astronomical objects. Thousands of these objects are best known by their NGC or IC numbers, which remain in widespread use.
The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra. Such objects are formed when a shell of ionized gas is expelled into the surrounding interstellar medium by a star in the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf.
Lynx is a constellation named after the animal, usually observed in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. The constellation was introduced in the late 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is a faint constellation, with its brightest stars forming a zigzag line. The orange giant Alpha Lyncis is the brightest star in the constellation, and the semiregular variable star Y Lyncis is a target for amateur astronomers. Six star systems have been found to contain planets. Those of 6 Lyncis and HD 75898 were discovered by the Doppler method; those of XO-2, XO-4, XO-5 and WASP-13 were observed as they passed in front of the host star.
A Dobsonian telescope is an altazimuth-mounted Newtonian telescope design popularized by John Dobson in 1965 and credited with vastly increasing the size of telescopes available to amateur astronomers. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available components to create a large, portable, low-cost telescope. The design is optimized for observing faint, deep-sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies. This type of observation requires a large objective diameter of relatively short focal length and portability for travel to less light-polluted locations.
A deep-sky object (DSO) is any astronomical object that is not an individual star or Solar System object. The classification is used for the most part by amateur astronomers to denote visually observed faint naked eye and telescopic objects such as star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. This distinction is practical and technical, implying a variety of instruments and techniques appropriate to observation, and does not distinguish the nature of the object itself.
The Jewel Box is an open cluster in the constellation Crux, originally discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751–1752. This cluster was later named the Jewel Box by John Herschel when he described its telescopic appearance as "...a superb piece of fancy jewellery". It is easily visible to the naked eye as a hazy star some 1.0° southeast of the first-magnitude star Mimosa. This hazy star was given the Bayer star designation "Kappa Crucis", from which the cluster takes one of its common names. The modern designation Kappa Crucis has been assigned to one of the stars in the base of the A-shaped asterism of the cluster
Astronomy is a monthly American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and astrophysics for general readers.
Robert Owen Evans, OAM is a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia and an amateur astronomer who holds the record for visual discoveries of supernovae (42).
NGC 246 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cetus. The nebula and the stars associated with it are listed in several catalogs, as summarized by the SIMBAD database. It is roughly 1,600 light-years away. The nebula's central star is the 12th magnitude white dwarf HIP 3678.
The Caldwell catalogue is an astronomical catalogue of 109 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers. The list was compiled by Patrick Moore as a complement to the Messier catalogue.
NGC 5033 is an inclined spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. Distance estimates vary from between 38 and 60 million light years from the Milky Way. The galaxy has a very bright nucleus and a relatively faint disk. Significant warping is visible in the southern half of the disk. The galaxy's relatively large angular size and relatively high surface brightness make it an object that can be viewed and imaged by amateur astronomers. The galaxy's location relatively near Earth and its active galactic nucleus make it a commonly studied object for professional astronomers.
The Herschel 400 catalogue is a subset of William Herschel's original Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, selected by Brenda F. Guzman (Branchett), Lydel Guzman, Paul Jones, James Morrison, Peggy Taylor and Sara Saey of the Ancient City Astronomy Club in St. Augustine, Florida, United States c. 1980. They decided to generate the list after reading a letter published in Sky & Telescope by James Mullaney of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula, Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11, is an H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575 (BD+60°2522). The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. It was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. The star BD+60°2522 is thought to have a mass of about 44 M☉.
NGC 7 is a spiral galaxy located in the Sculptor constellation. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel in 1834, who was using an 18.7 inch reflector telescope at the time. Astronomer Steve Gottlieb described the galaxy as faint, albeit large, and edge-on from the perspective of the Milky Way; he also noted how the galaxy could only be observed clearly with peripheral vision, not by looking directly at it.
Khagol Vishwa (KV) is an organization for amateur astronomers working in Maharashtra, India. It was established on 17 November 1999. The main activity of KV is to conduct observations of astronomical events, like meteor showers, eclipses, occultation, variable stars and generate scientific data for amateur research. Along with scientific studies, KV is also active in science popularization. Some of the major activities conducted by KV are public star gazing programs, sky at your doorstep, certificate course in amateur astronomy, and science exhibition.
NGC 504, also occasionally referred to as PGC 5084 or UGC 935, is a lenticular galaxy located approximately 189 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered on 22 November 1827 by astronomer John Herschel. The object was listed twice in the General Catalogue, precursor of the New General Catalogue, as both GC 291 and GC 292.
NGC 525, also occasionally referred to as PGC 5232 or UGC 972 is a lenticular galaxy located approximately 95.6 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered on 25 September 1862 by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest.