[Paddy (Patrick)]

Amid some very ordinary transparency, some things are still great to observe!

Telescope 400mm f4.9 tri-dob reflector
Eyepieces 28mm UWAN, 17,13,9 mm Naglers, Paracorr
Navigation: Uranometria, Night Sky Observer’s Guide, My charts of LMC available at cloudsofmagellan.net.au,

2300 Transparency poor, seeing fair

NGC 2808 GC in Carina

135x Stunning. A very concentrated GC with very concentrated almost stellar core within a 5’ halo of myriad stars just resolved. Set against a very busy star field to the south.

Ruprecht 84 OC in Carina

135x 5’ tall isosceles triangle of haze and stars, the apex of the triangle pointing W. About 10 distinct stars pick out the corners of the triangle in discrete clumps. Quite delicate in appearance and pleasing to the eye.

NGC 3114 OC in Carina

80x Very obvious to the naked eye in this dark sky, it seems to nearly fill the 60’ TFOV with many stars of varying magnitude and colour, numerous darker patches and intriguing, delicate asterisms - curved lines, sawtooth patterns, triangles and a sharp parabaloid. Behind all of this is the stippling of innumerable Milky Way disc stars. Beautiful.

NGC 2867 PN in Carina

250x Bright and distinct bluish 1’ disc, the edge slightly softer on the northern side. No central star and no internal structure. Brightens with both UHC and OIII filters, but no further detail apparent.

NGC 1737/43/45/48/Henize emission nebula N83/Lucke-Hodge association 5 Emission nebula and OC in LMC

175x This complex represents the northernmost element of one of the bright, complex and intriguing areas of the LMC. The whole N83 complex is a 7’x5’ soft glow with several bright patches within. At the NE corner is NGC 1745, a diffuse vaguely triangular glow2’x3’ terminating in a bright 1’ disc at the southern end, NGC 1748. This marks the start of the trapezoidal southern part of the complex. 5’ to the west is the fainter and smaller NGC 1737. The brightest knot in the southern part is the 1’ NGC 1743 forming the SE corner of the trapezoid, 3’ N of a bright star. The whole complex brightens with UHC filter but especially NGCs 1743 & 1748

NGC 1756 OC in LMC

175x Lying about 5’ SE of NGC 1743, this is a soft 1’ dia round glow with no structure or resolved stars. It decreases with UHC filter.

18’ SW of Henize N83 is the bright nebula NGC 1727, but between the two complexes are two fainter large luminosities, comprising Henize N81

Henize N81 A+B Emission nebulae in LMC

175x Both segments of N81 are fairly faint and their shape is hard to pin down. N18B lies between NGCs 1743 & 1727 and N 81A is slightly westward. Together they span about 10’SE-NW x 5’ SW-NE. Stars are scattered across both nebulae. With UHC filter, they appear as 2 large brightenings in a single nebula.

NGC 1722/1727/IC 2111/ Lucke-Hodge 2 OC and Emission nebulae in LMC

175x NGC 1727 is a 7’ SE-NW patch of haze and scattered stars with a brighter starry 3’x2’oval at the western end, a larger and more diffuse brightening at the northern edge. A UHC filter is needed to get the full sense of the size of the nebula. 3’ SW is a 2’ dia patchy glow, NGC 1722, with 2 bright knots. The northern one, IC2111 (Henize N79A), is 1’ dia, the southern is about 30” across.

NGC 1712/Henize nebula N79/Lucke-Hodge 1 OC and Emission nebulae in LMC

175x 5’ SW of 1722 is NGC 1712, a 5’x3’ trapezoid haze and scattered stars with bright patches at NE and SW corners. All brighten with UHC filter.

To the east of this string of nebulae and clusters is the magnificent complex around NGC 1767/Henize nebula N94, collectively Lucke/hodge association 8. Alas my transparency was waning and I have to leave this for another night.