[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

The following notes taken at South West Astronomy Group night at Camperdown Vic.

NGC 2392 (Caldwell 39)
Date 15/1/10 Seeing - Very Good
Hartung 262
Planetary Nebula in Gemini. “Eskimo Nebula”, “Clown Face Nebula” or “Lion Nebula”

Located Delta Geminorum (Wasat or the Middle) by naked eye. Star is the eastern star of pair of fainter stars located on Southern side of “rectangle” of Gemini. Along with Zeta and Lambda Geminorum forms an equilateral triangle pointing to south. Moved slight S of f to 2 approx 6th mag stars 1.5deg separated about 1deg. Locate point halfway between these 2 then look slightly f. At 67x in 24mm ep fuzzy star is immediately obvious. The is an 8th mag star just to north. At 115x is a large obvious planetary nebula which OIII filter reveals as bright against the sky. Two concentric rings, brighter inner ring is clearly elongated in north-south direction. Central star is about 9th mag based on comparison with star to north. Central star, while visible, is difficult to resolve to a point.

NGC 5139 (Caldwell 80)
Date 15/1/10 Seeing - Very Good
Hartung 524
Globular Cluster/Galactic remnant in Centaurus. Omega Centauri.

Located by naked eye as faint star in line extended from Beta Centauri (fainter star of the “pointers”) and Epsilon Centauri. Beta and Epsilon separated by about 8deg in direction Sp. Cluster is a further 5deg in same direction, finder reveals as a fuzzy patch. At 115x it nearly fill field. No obvious central condensation. Although it is larger than 47 Tucanae, it has a more even illumination so on a quick visual comparison, is probably comparable in overall brightness. Some structure is evident at higher power with several trails of stars and darker patches becoming visible with higher power.

NGC 5128 (Caldwell 77)
Date 15/1/10 Seeing - Very Good
Hartung 523
Galaxy in Centaurus. “Centaurus A”

From Omega Centaurus scan north about 1.5 finder fields or 4.5deg. Faint patch is just visible in finder. Low power (47x) reveals as a nebulous patch. Higher power (115x) clearly revealed dark lane running through middle of object. Core is large and bright. Filamentary structure of dark lane is obvious and middle part of dark lane appears thinner than other parts, which agrees with photographic evidence. Remarkable object, very rewarding.

The Coalsack (Caldwell 99)
Observed by naked eye. Dark patch to f side of Crux. Appears vaguely rectangular with a “point” to the south. This is the emu’s beak in the well known dark structure “the emu” visible in autumn. Only visible at fairly dark sites due to low current altitude. Examination of area with low power in scope reveals that there are plenty of stars within the Coalsack, but comparison with surrounding Milky Way area shows that volume of visible stars is much lower.

NGC 2237-8,46 (Caldwell 49)
Date 15/1/10 Seeing - Very Good
Hartung 219
Emission Nebula in Monoceros. “The Rosette Nebula”.

Located NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) as previously described within naked eye isosceles triangle formed by Epsilon, 13 and 18 Monocerotis. Cluster is just visible in finder. Nebula surrounding this cluster is very faint and large. When scanning around cluster, hints obtained of faintly glowing filaments. Appears brightest on North and North f sides. Structure hard to identify in crowded star field.

Malcolm