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Old 01-10-2020, 10:55 PM
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DeepSkyBagger (Patrick)
Astro Pom

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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancashire, England
Posts: 41
OK, here are the final six planetary nebulae from Glen's list that I have observed:

34. IC 1295 Sct
Pretty faint but clearly visible to direct vision with the OIII filter. Difficult without. Quite large, rounded or maybe slightly angular. Averted vision reveals hints of structure, but uncertainly. There are definite hints of a central star. I found this nebula to be astonishingly clear considering how faint it appears on the POSS.

35. NGC 6894 Cyg
Visible at x83 but only with the OIII filter in place. Annularity suspected immediately at x150 with the OIII filter. The ring structure was not always visible and was better with averted vision. Fairly faint, looking like a small ghost of M57. Nice object.

36. NGC 6772 Aql
Large but very dim, it is barely discernible without the OIII filter in place. Even with the filter, it is still difficult. It appears not quite round, being slightly elongated N-S. No variation in brightness was seen across the object.

37. NGC 6058 Her
Visible at x83. Pretty bright, especially considering the brightness of the twilit sky. Round and distinctly not stellar. Sharply brighter in the middle. Central star not seen. Use of the OIII filter increases the object’s apparent diameter noticeably. At x375 there was still no sign of a central star.

38. NGC 6852 Aql
Very dim. Only really visible with the OIII filter in place and even then difficult. It shows a medium sized disc. The centre of the disc is very bright, considerably brighter than the star to its immediate west (mag 13.2). The bright centre, which looks like a star, can only be seen when the OIII filter is not in place. It is invisible with it in. DSFG gives the magnitude of the planetary’s central star as 17.9, so what was it that I saw?

39. NGC 2610 Hya
Pretty difficult, even with the OIII filter in place. The low altitude of 19° didn't help. Quite large and circular. No structure seen. A brighter point was seen at the centre (but only without the OIII filter). This is unlikely to have been the central star which shines at magnitude 15.9.

For contrast, here's another observation I made of NGC 2610, but this time from the rather better, and more southern, skies of the Winter Star Party in Florida. This was with a 16" Newtonian:

Bright and easy. Initially, this object was perceived as a disc, but further investigation revealed a darker centre, giving the object an annular appearance. Elongation estimated in PA about 50°.


Well that's it. I haven't seen any of the other PNs in Glen's list, though I have seen about another 60 he doesn't list. My horizons are limited. Theoretically, my horizon due south is at declination -36°, but light pollution means my realistic horizon is closer to declination -10° or -15°.

I would love to explore the southern sky as I have the northern, and I remember well the pristine skies of the Australian Outback that I experienced back in 1986 when I went there to see Halley's Comet. I didn't have a telescope, of course, only binoculars.

Some day...
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (IC 1295 - 14149.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (NGC 6894-14108.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (NGC 6772-14134.jpg)
178.5 KB11 views
Click for full-size image (NGC 6058-14106.jpg)
69.1 KB11 views
Click for full-size image (NGC 6852-14141.jpg)
150.7 KB11 views
Click for full-size image (NGC 2610 - 15202.jpg)
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