[orestis]

Hi everyone,
It has been ages since I have done any proper observing. The observing that I was doing was variable star observing for my science experiment. So I didn’t get time to check out all the other wonders of the universe. But on Friday and Saturday nights I did.
Conditions on both nights were of good transparency and 3/5 seeing. The instrumentation that is used was my 12’’ DOB and pencils and paper.

24/6/11 Friday

Ngc 6302 - I’ve always wanted to see this PN after reading about its unusual shape and decided to check it out for myself. Easily found near the stinger of the scorpion. At 57x I could see it in averted vision well but not that clearly on direct vision. I think I could see the central star surrounded by a very bright region. The whole nebula was elongated NE-SW. There were 2 arms coming off the core in the elongation indicated. The Eastern arm was fainter than and not as long as the western arm. The western arm was quite bright and seemed to have a small arc on the end arcing towards the south. The eastern arm also seemed to have a small arc but arcing in the opposite direction and a lot fainter. There was also mottling in the arms showing uneven brightness. The whole Pn looked like a twisted elongated glow. A every nice Pn.

M4 – When I first looked at it through the 26mm ep at 57X, the first thing I noticed was how loosely concentrated this Glob really is. There is a distinct string of stars running through the centre going N-S, There also another string of stars parallel to this one west.

M80 –Is one of my most favored globular clusters it just looks awesome at 57x it looks very compact with only a little of the outer rim being resolved. At 167 x it has a very spherical appearance and most of it is now resolved except for the super bright core. I recommend this to anyone who has not seen it before.

M107 –Found in Ophiuchus situated between a triangle of 3 bright stars.It had a very grainy appearance to it. It was about as loose as M4 and was not spherical. This was interesting glob to observe.

M12 –Easily found it has a fairly loose look about it and is not quite circular in shape. It has spiders web look with a mixture of star brightness’s.

M10 –Is a lot more concentrated than M12 and is fairly circular in shape. It is fully resolved and ahs a beautiful ambient glow. It was also brighter than M12.

Nu Scorpii –Was an awesome find it is indeed a double double. At 57x all you see is the 2 stars but on closer inspection say 500x using the 6mm TMB and 2x barlow you get a different view, a spectacular view. The brighter pair towards the south of the other fainter pair are aligned n-s. They have a brilliant yellow appearance. The other pair are aligned SW-NE and show no colour. I couldn’t miss an opportunity to sketch this pair of pairs and the sketch is attached digitally remastered.

Ngc 5248 –Was found in Bootes,it appears as a diffuse glow surrounding a bright core. There were brighter regions towards the east and west. I hinted at arms on the sides mentioned to be brighter. I’m pretty sure I saw them but not quite distinct in direct vision as in averted vision, that is what made them pop out well. I shall revisit this one and try to get a better understanding of its nature.

M3 –Easily found using the finderscope. It is a very uniform glob. Concentrated but still a bit loose. Bright and spherical in shape. A very appealing Glob.
I revisted some old faves that I hadn’t seen before in the 12’’ dob. M 8 was spectacular,M20 showed some awesome detail never before seen in the 5’’.M17 was by far the most amazing astronomical object I have seen quite a long time. The bar was very bright and mottled and the swan shape was very apparent.M6 and M7 were also awesome.
25/6/11 Saturday

M5 – I heard this was a great globular cluster and sought to view it myself. It is quite an amazing glob. It is situated to the north of a very bright star of yellow appearance, I also noticed that this star had a faint companion close by.M5 is a huge Glob covering about half the FOV of the 9mm tmb at 167x.It is a fairly concentrated glob with the middle being very bright. It has a beautiful spherical shape. (Also just a quick note on the 9mm TMB this is a great Ep for Globular clusters showing no aberrations across the entire fov and showing great contrast and resolution.)

Ngc 4494 –While looking for the needle galaxy Ngc 4565 I came upon this galaxy. The 6mm ep showed it to have a very bright stellar core with circular haze surrounding it. I hinted at some very faint extensions running n-s but was not sure and moved to the object that I I’ve always wanted to see.

Ngc 4565 –Very elongated galaxy, as what you would expect from a side on galaxy. The arms were in the direction of NW-SE. There is a faint star just off to the side of the galaxy towards the NE.It has a central bulge very much likened to the sombrero but much smaller. There is a distinct dark lane cutting into the Ne side of the core. There is a small fraction of light still showing on the other side of the dark lane. The rest of the arms seem to have a sharp defined edge on the NE side suggesting the dark lane to be there.
I was looking for some more objects to view when I saw Ngc 6684 on the chart and decided to check it out.

Ngc 6684 –Easily found next to a mag 5 star. Compact and small. It had an uneven appearance to it but had little detail to show.

M64 – I always wanted to revisit this one using the 12’’ Dob. I remember seeing the dark lane through the 5’’ and thought to myself that the dark lane must be a lot more apparent in the dob, and it was. It is closeby to a fairly bright star. The core of M64 looks almost stellar. The rest of the galaxy is elongated NW-SE but not exceedingly elongated .The dark lane was very apparent sowing up as a banana shaped dark patch to the NE of the Core facing the Star. It was quite a sight. I remember saying ages ago that I would sketch it and tonight I decided I will and it is attached for all to see.

Again on this particular night I roamed the wonders of Sagittarius and decided to pack up afterwards. Both nights were very enjoyable and it seems like I have taken my Cosmic medicine for the week.

Until next time
clear skies for all.
Cheers Orestis