What to image in January with the Celestron Origin
The long nights of midwinter belong to Orion. The Orion Nebula is up for hours, the emission regions around it (Flame, Horsehead, Rosette, the Christmas Tree cluster) respond to a dual-band filter even from town, and Andromeda and the Pleiades are still high in the west early in the evening. Cold, dry air is the best seeing of the year; dew and battery life are the enemies.
Moon in January 2027: new on 7 Jan, full on 22 Jan. Broadband targets (galaxies, clusters) want the week either side of new; emission nebulae behind a dual-band filter tolerate the rest.
37 targets transit near midnight in January. From a suburban sky the Origin gets a solid image of 32 of them in under an hour each; 5 need longer, or a darker sky, or several nights. Times below use the recommended filter and 10 s subs.
| Target | Type | Bortle 4 | Bortle 6 | Bortle 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M35Gemini | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M36Auriga | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M37Auriga | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M38Auriga | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M41Canis Major | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| Orion NebulaOrion | Emission nebula | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 12 min74 subs |
| Beehive ClusterCancer | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M46Puppis | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M47Puppis | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M48Hydra | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M50Monoceros | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M67Cancer | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| M79Lepus | Globular cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 11 min66 subs |
| M93Puppis | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| Rosette ClusterMonoceros | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| Eskimo NebulaGemini | Planetary nebula | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 8 min49 subs |
| NGC 1893Auriga | Open cluster | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs | 5 min30 subs |
| Cigar GalaxyUrsa Major | Galaxy | 5 min30 subs | 9 min56 subs | 25 min153 subs |
| Crab NebulaTaurus | Supernova remnant | 5 min32 subs | 10 min62 subs | 27 min165 subs |
| De Mairan's NebulaOrion | Emission nebula | 6 min35 subs | 13 min76 subs | 36 min215 subs |
| Flame NebulaOrion | Emission nebula | 6 min35 subs | 13 min76 subs | 36 min215 subs |
| Tarantula NebulaDorado | Emission nebula | 6 min35 subs | 13 min76 subs | 36 min215 subs |
| M78Orion | Reflection nebula | 8 min48 subs | 17 min100 subs | 47 min281 subs |
| Bode's GalaxyUrsa Major | Galaxy | 8 min47 subs | 17 min102 subs | 49 min293 subs |
| Running Man NebulaOrion | Reflection nebula | 8 min49 subs | 18 min107 subs | 51 min308 subs |
| Rosette NebulaMonoceros | Emission nebula | 16 min94 subs | 36 min215 subs | 1 h 46 min635 subs |
| NGC 2903Leo | Galaxy | 16 min98 subs | 37 min224 subs | 1 h 50 min660 subs |
| Flaming Star NebulaAuriga | Emission nebula | 18 min111 subs | 43 min257 subs | 2 h 07 min762 subs |
| Monkey Head NebulaOrion | Emission nebula | 18 min111 subs | 43 min257 subs | 2 h 07 min762 subs |
| California NebulaPerseus | Emission nebula | 22 min131 subs | 51 min307 subs | 2 h 32 min914 subs |
| Horsehead NebulaOrion | Emission nebula | 22 min131 subs | 51 min307 subs | 2 h 32 min914 subs |
| NGC 2403Camelopardalis | Galaxy | 22 min131 subs | 51 min307 subs | 2 h 32 min914 subs |
| Tadpoles NebulaAuriga | Emission nebula | 26 min156 subs | 1 h 01 min367 subs | 3 h 03 min1,097 subs |
| Cone and Christmas TreeMonoceros | Emission nebula | 43 min261 subs | 1 h 45 min628 subs | 5 h 16 min1,896 subs |
| Jellyfish NebulaGemini | Supernova remnant | 43 min261 subs | 1 h 45 min628 subs | 5 h 16 min1,896 subs |
| Thor's HelmetCanis Major | Emission nebula | 1 h 08 min411 subs | 2 h 44 min983 subs | 8 h 13 min2,961 subs |
| Witch Head NebulaEridanus | Reflection nebula | 4 h 15 min1,533 subs | 11 h3,849 subs | 33 h11,852 subs |
Other telescopes in January: Seestar S50 · Seestar S50 Pro · Seestar S30 · Seestar S30 Pro · DWARF 3 · DWARF mini · Draco · DWARF II · Vespera II · Vespera Pro · Vespera 3 · Vespera Pro 2 · eQuinox 2 · Odyssey · Origin Mark II
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