On February evenings, Perseus can be found high in the northwest between 8 and 9 p.m. local time. For observers near 38º N latitude, Perseus is just north of the zenith, the point in the sky straight overhead. Alot of skygazers see Perseus in the shape of a giraffe. His left leg (the stars e, x, z, and o,) points toward the Pleiades in Taurus the Bull. The "giraffe's neck" in Perseus also points to w-shaped Cassiopeia. (This map is adapted from Astronomy Magazine.)

In this more detailed view, we'll take a closer look at some of the interesting sights inside Perseus. We're going to go in order of right ascension, which is right to left on this map. The vertical lines are the right ascension lines. Also, the symbols at left show how an object is best viewed:  with your naked eye;  with binoculars; and  with a telescope.
 

M76, The Little Dumbell. This nice little planetary nebula is visible in a 4 1/2 inch scope from a dark sky site. 6 and 8 inch scopes bring out the twin lobed structure beautifully; hence the comparison to M27, the Dumbell Nebula. The northern half of M76 is brighter, and a nebula filter works great on this object. More info and pictures.

NGC 869 and 884, The Perseus Double Cluster. The Double Cluster is a fantastic object no matter what you view it with. To the naked eye it appears as a fuzzy, unresolved patch halfway between Perseus and Cassiopeia, embedded in the Winter Milky Way. With binoculars, the stars resolve themselves into dozens of bright pinpoints. The Double Cluster also looks great through a wide field telescope; use the lowest power available, and if you're using an SCT, use a coma corrector. Picture. More Info.

M34. A compact, sparse open cluster of 8th magnitude and dimmer stars.
 

Algol. The "demon star" Algol is a variable star. That is, its brightness varies over a period of time (in this case, 2.87 days). Algol is an eclipsing variable, two stars that orbit around each other along our line of sight. But the stars orbit so close to each other that they are impossible to resolve with a telescope. When one star passes in front (or eclipses) the other, their light merges and is dimmer. At its minimum, Algol is magnitude 3.4, and 2.1 at maximum. Watch Algol over several nights, and compare its brightness with that of some nearby stars, especially o. The star is at its dimmest for about two hours before it begins to brighten again. Here are some dates and times when Algol is at its dimmest, called "Minima": Feb. 3, 5:08; 6, 1:58; 8, 22:47; 11, 19:36; 14, 16:26; 17, 13:15; 20, 10:04; 23, 6:53; 26, 3:43. The time is Universal Time. O hours universal time is 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (8 p.m. when Daylight Savings Time is in effect). So 22:47 hours on Feb 8th is 5:47 p.m. on Feb 7th. (Adapted from Sky and Telescope Magazine.)

NGC 1245. A faint, dense open star cluster consiting of 12th magnitude stars. Use at least a 6-inch scope. Picture.
 

The Alpha Persei Cluster. Mirfak (a Persei) is one of the brightest stars in the sky at magnitude 1.8. It's surrounded by a dozen or so dimmer stars, like moths around a flame. From a dark sky site, the cluster is visible to the naked eye as a shimmering, ghostly patch of stars. Using averted vision makes the cluster brighten even more. Through binoculars, the cluster takes up about 3/4 of the field of view. While not catalogued as a deep sky object, the Alpha Persei Cluster is well worth a look!

NGC 1499, The California Nebula. While difficult to observe visually because of its large size and low surface brightness, the California Nebula is an excellent target for astrophotography. Similar in appearance to the North America Nebula, NGC 1499 shows up well using a 50mm or higher lens. The 300mm lens that we used to photograph Orion provides a perfect field for this nebula. More info and picture.