Gourmet Menu

                                       Here is my working list of gourmet items
                                       In my humble opinion the best of the best

Albireo-type stars
   Beta          Cyg    Albireo
   h3945       CMa   The Albireo of Winter
   Iota           Cnc    The Albireo of Spring
Best bright nebulae
   NGC 1976 M42   Ori   Great Orion Nebula
   NGC 6523 M8     Sgr   Lagoon Nebula
Blood-red stars
   Y              CVn   La Superba
   Mu            Cep   Herschel's Garnet Star
   TX             Psc   Naked-eye carbon star
Brightest globulars
   NGC 6205 M13   Her   Great Hercules GC
   NGC 6121 M4     Sco   Naked-eye globular
   NGC 5904 M5     Ser   Rivals M13
Double-double stars
   Alpha          Cap   Always overlooked
   Epsilon        Lyr    A classic system
Easiest galaxies
   NGC 4594 M104  Vir     Sombrero Galaxy
   NGC 5194 M51    CVn  Whirlpool Galaxy
   NGC 4826 M64    Com   Blackeye Galaxy
   NGC 253               Scl     Sculptor Galaxy
Easiest planetary nebulae
   NGC 3242           Hya  Ghost of Jupiter
   NGC 6720 M57   Lyr   Ring Nebula
   NGC 6853 M27   Vul   Dumbbell Nebula
Famous Mira-type stars
   Omicron   Cet    Mira, of course
   Chi           Cyg   One of the big four
   R              Hya   One of the big four
   R              Leo   One of the big four
Famous double stars
   Gamma          And   Almach
   Gamma          Ari   Mesarthim
   Gamma          Leo   Algeiba
   Gamma          Lep
Famous dwarf
   Omicron2       Eri   Easiest dwarf to view
Famous triple stars
   Zeta           Cnc    Needs a 5-inch scope
   Beta           Mon   Herchel's Wonder Star
Famous variable star
   Beta           Per     Algol, The Ghoul Star
Hottest star visible
   Zeta           Pup     Naked-eye O-type star
Largest spiral galaxy
   NGC 3115       Sex   Spindle Galaxy
Famous "Little Clouds"
   NGC 224   M31   And   Great Andromeda Galaxy
   NGC 2287 M41   CMa One of the prettiest?
   NGC 2632 M44   Cnc   Praesepe, Beehive
   NGC 6405 M6     Sco   Butterfly Cluster
   NGC 6475 M7     Sco   Adjacent to M6
Messier Marathon "spoilers"
   NGC 7099 M30   Cap   Not easy at all
   NGC 628   M74   Psc   aka "The Graveyard"
Most elusive open clusters
   NGC 752        And   Big, but rarely there
   NGC 7789      Cas    Demands dark skies
Most elusive planetary nebula
   NGC 7293       Aqr   The famous Helix Nebula
Most elusive galaxy
   NGC 598 M33    Tri   Almost mystical
Most remote local globular
   NGC 2419       Lyn   "Intergalactic Wanderer"
Nearest Seyfert galaxy
   NGC 1068 M77   Cet   Most visible Seyfert
Nearest starburst galaxy
   NGC 3031 M81   UMa   One of Bode's Galaxies
Oldest globular cluster
   NGC 5272 M3    CVn   Almost naked-eye
Oldest open clusters
   NGC 188        Cep  Truly difficult to find
   NGC 6791      Lyr   Very rich but faint
   NGC 2682      Cnc  Demands good seeing
Prettiest open clusters
   NGC 2168 M35   Gem  Houston's favorite
   Hyades                  Tau   Core of UMa Moving Cluster
   NGC 6231            Sco   The "Mini-Pleiades"
Prettiest starfields
   Mel 111        Com  Coma Star Cluster
   Gamma          Cyg   around Sadr
   Mel 20           Per   Mirfak Cluster
Richest globular cluster
   NGC 7078 M15   Peg   Most awesome globular
Richest open clusters
   NGC 2477           Pup   Shapley's designation
   NGC 6705 M11   Sct   Wild Duck Cluster
Youngest open clusters
   NGC 2362          CMa  Needs an 8-inch scope
   NGC 7654 M52  Cas   Easy to spot
   M45                     Tau   The pretty Pleiades

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