Thanks all for your replies!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzy
Oh Paddy, what a fabulous report! I've enjoyed it so much that I've read it three times under 24 hours already! Your descriptions were out of this world - I just realised I made a funny! 
I love that you observe and report on star clusters as you must know by now, they are amongst my favourite objects.
The only thing I have seen on your list seems to be the GC in Musca- NGC
4833. I saw it as quite a large glob but at 200x I just couldn't resolve it on that night. All I could see was a hazy ball. From your description (and of course much larger scope  ) you make mention of a "circular haze" so I was wondering if this was quite fuzzy for you as well? I know I just simply will have to re-visit this with keener eyes, perhaps higher magnification even  though I think the mag. I used is pushing it anyway. 
That list of targets is an interesting one to me; I haven't got most of those catalogues, some I hadn't even heard of. And if you got those out of the Night Sky Observers Guide Book (which I've ordered and should get any day now  ), I may be one step closer.
Thank you Paddy for sharing your observations.  |
I had noticed your passion for opens clusters Suzy and it's one that I fully share. And some of the smaller ones are the most stunning. The haze I was referring to in NGC 4833 was the ball of unresolved stars that appears behind those that I could resolve and there were quite a few of those. I think you would probably resolve a lot of stars with your scope under a dark sky. Regarding the catalogues, I found all of these objects using the Night Sky Observers Guide as an atlas - many were good stepping stones to the next object. As Rob says, the two GCs in Musca make a great contrasting pair and are well worth visiting in close succession. Thanks for your enthusiastic reply!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pgc hunter
excellent report Paddy. NGC 3114 to me always looks like a nazi sign! The Spiral planetary is fascinating and my own obs tend to agree with yours.
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Thanks, Sab. I find that once I've seen a pattern like that in a cluster it's very hard to shake. That one is a little unfortunate. Unless you focus on the history of the symbol - it was originally a Hindu then a Buddhist symbol with very benign connotations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ausastronomer
Very nice report Paddy. I recently spent some time on most of these targets recently at Coonabarabran.
When observing this globular its always worth checking out "The Dark Doodad" which is just South of NGC 4372. It is a really nice dark Nebula, almost 3 degrees long and about 10' wide.
http://astronomy.fm/aapod/images/aap...1255270526.jpg
When we were at Coonabarabran recently with our American and Korean visitors on our OZSKY 2011 trip, we spent a lot of time on this target with the 30" SDM and the 25" Obsession.
It really is a wonderful planetary. One of the Koreans and one of the Americans commented that they felt it was the nicest planetary they had ever seen.
Cheers,
John B |
Thanks John. I always finish my observing with a browse with my binoculars after I put the scope to bed - I find it hard to let go of the night sky - and often peruse the Dark Doodad when Musca is in a good spot. I haven't really looked at it with my scope though. That gorgeous image of it makes me wonder if it is worth using the scope to see what detail I could pick out. And isn't that field of stars just stunning. I agree about NGC 5189 being one of the best PNs to observe - so much interesting detail is apparent.