[Paddy (Patrick)]

Managed a few hours observing on 7th and 8th April, alas high haze or smoke from burning fields and forests limited observing to open clusters and brighter objects to the south. Still, some very beautiful and interesting objects to observe! Here are my notes.

Telescope 410mm (16”) f4.9 tri-dob reflector
Eyepieces 28mm UWAN, 17,13,9 mm Naglers, Paracorr
Navigation: Night Sky Observer’s Guide (NSOG)
Data NGC/IC Project

7/4/2011

2230

Seeing excellent 2/5
Transparency fair/poor – thin high haze, Milky Way & Magellanic Clouds visible but with some haze, no stars visible in Coal Sack. Omega Centauri still visible to naked eye. Poor enough to make galaxy observing unrewarding.

NGC 3114 OC in Carina
10h 02m 42.7s -60º 06' 32"
Vmag 4.2 Size 35’

Obvious to the naked eye 80X Large cluster, very impressive amongst the many field stars taking up half the 1 degree TFOV with this eyepiece and sprays of stars spilling out into the field. Quite a degree of variation of magnitude, with a very bright yellowish star on the eastern side and another to the NE and a big spray of stars to the south, looping out to the east. Many interesting swirls and lines of stars. The cluster is set against a beautiful stippling of countless faintly luminous background galactic disc stars. Amazing.

Just to the ESE of NGC 3114 is

Trumpler 12 OC in Carina

175X An interesting hazy, box-shaped cluster 4’ across with a number of fainter resolvable stars against and one very bright star to the west, with a string of stars and haze extending westward from this star. Quite distinct against the myriad background stars and quite a few brighter field stars. The bright star is the apex of a V of resolvable stars

Ruprecht 161 OC in Carina

135X Very dispersed cluster of many bright stars which does not immediately stand out as a cluster.

Melotte 101 OC in Carina

135X Distinct cluster of many fainter stars of similar magnitude with much brighter lucida on its western border. Many lines and curves of stars throughout. Looks about 15’ across. There is a distinct stippling of disc stars as a background.

NGC 3496 OC in Carina
10h 59m 33.8s -60º 20' 12"
Vmag 8.2 Size 9’

135X Distinct patch of fainter resolvable stars about 10’ across. Appears elongated somewhat E-W. A pointed bulge to the east thins towards the middle of the cluster and then splits into 2 curves at the western edge, one heading north and the other to the south.

NGC 3503/Pismis 17 OC + nebula in Carina
11h 01m 17.3s -59º 50' 50"
Size 3’x3’

175X A small delicate triangle of stars, the base of which is formed by a line of three stars at the eastern edge, the apex by one to the west. The triangle encloses a tall triangular patch of nebulosity. Quite a delightful little object.

NGC 3255 OC in Carina
10h 26m 31.3s -60º 40' 42"
Vmag 11 Size 2’

175X A delicate little clump of stars – at low power seems to be just a circular patch of haze, but this mag shows many resolvable stars. Looks about 2’ across.

The transparency is deteriorating rapidly.

8/4/2011

2115

Seeing 2/5
Transparency fair – Coal Sack stands out but no faint stars visible within it.

NGC 4833 GC in Musca
12h 59m 34.9s 70º 52' 28"
Vmag 8.4 Size 13.5’

175X This is quite a stunning GC with many resolvable stars against a slightly irregular circular haze and many stars spilling beyond the halo with a wide core.

NGC 4372 GC in Musca
12h 25m 45.4s -72º 39' 33"
Vmag 7.2 Size 18.6’

175X Very close to Lambda Muscae and similar in size to NGC 4833 but with no sign of central concentration. Roughly circular splash of resolvable stars against stippled halo. The are some dark patches in the GC, one is v-shaped pointing to the west.

NGC 4071 PN in Musca
12h 04m 15.3s -67º 18' 35"
Vmag 13 Size 1.3’

250X With direct vision appears stellar, but averted vision reveals a small faint haze which is accentuated by UHC filter, but more so by OIII. Easy to overlook.

NGC 4463 OC in Musca
12h 29m 55.2s -64º 47' 23"
Vmag 7.2 Size 5’

175X Twenty or so stars spread across 3’x6’ the brightest of which form the eastern base of an equilateral triangle at the western edge of the cluster with a lovely curved sinew of stars forming the apex and curving off to the east with a delicate haze behind.

Harvard 8 OC in Musca

175X An interesting and delicate object – to the east there is a N-S convex east curve of stars with a sharp turn to the west at the northern end with a small bright clump of stars at its tip and a fine point at the southern end of the arc. There is a strand of stars heading west from this curve. The whole thing looks like a distorted T of about 25 stars.

NGC 5189 PN in Musca “Spiral Planetary Nebula”
13h 33m 32.91s -65º 58' 26.6"
Mag 10.3 Size 140”

250X A truly stunning and intricate PN. A bright star at the western end of the PN which has an E-W bar which curves south at the eastern end and bifurcates at the western end. The bar sits within a broad halo of fainter nebulosity with a distinct outer edge and dark lobes either side of the central bar. The northern lobe has a more marked outer border. There is further nebulosity beyond the halo to the southeast. The shape is reminiscent of a section through a seashell with a thick spiral core and a delicate outer shell. . Brightens with UHC filter. With OIII filter the spaces between the spiral and the shell glow a little more as does the patch to the east. 440X Remains very bright and distinct and confirms structure described above but a few bright patches appear the most obvious in the southern lobe.