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Old 13-02-2010, 08:05 AM
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Observations in Puppis - Part II

Observations in Puppis – Part II – and some other objects elsewhere, just because they’re there!

Over 2 nights, Thursday 11th and Friday 12th February
30cm Dobsonian
17, 12 and 9mm Naglers
Transparency 4/5, seeing about the 3.5/5.
Dew: light. Enough to dampen the maps but not affect the scope.
Sizes, positions etc are from Deep Sky Browser.

NGC 2453 OC – PUPPIS
07h 47.8 -27.14
SIZE 5.0’ MAGNITUDE 8.3
A tiny little cluster with 3 stars brighter than the rest. One dense group near the edge almost looked unresolved, but using the 7mm (214X) resolved them into a small clump of powdery stars. Both this cluster and the following Planetary fitted into the field of the 7mm easily.

NGC 2452 PN – PUPPIS
07h 47.26 -27.20
SIZE 31” X 24” MAGNITUDE 12.2
This one appeared as a grey, somewhat elongated PN. Using the barlow revealed that the centre was a bit darker than the edges, but only slightly. No sign of a central star.

NGC 2298 GC – PUPPIS
06h 48.26 -36 00
SIZE 6.8’ MAGNITUDE 9.29
Compact globular, not exactly bright but easily spotted in the field. There was no general resolution into individual stars, just the barest hint of granularity, especially towards the edges. The shape in the outer regions seemed a bit ragged or irregular.

NGC 2310 GX – PUPPIS
06h 53.53 -40 51
SIZE 5.0X1.2 MAGNITUDE 12.48
Puppis isn’t exactly the first constellation you think of when chasing galaxies. I was happy to spot this faint one and made a voice record and rough sketch of the star field to check later. Just to be sure I was seeing it. Slender, quite faint haze but there seemed to be a stellar nucleus when seeing improved momentarily. Very pleased, as it’s one of the faintest galaxies I have seen from home.

NGC 2579 OC + BN – PUPPIS
08h 21 -36 11
SIZE 10’ MAGNITUDE 7.5
This is a small but bright nebula with a mag 10 star embedded in it, there is another similar star close by. Deep Sky Browser states that it is in a HII region. The haze was fairly uniform and helped when I used the UHC on the 12mm EP – it seemed to extend the size of the haze a bit and improved the view. Perhaps an O-III may work better. It is classed as an open cluster with nebula, but you could be forgiven for thinking – cluster, what cluster? The stars are very loose and scattered, seeming to merge into the starfield. A number of other clusters in Puppis also seem to merge into the rich background starfield that runs through the area.

NGC 4361 PN - CORVUS
12h 24 -18.47
SIZE 114” MAGNITUDE 10.9
Pretty large and bright PN, imagine the PN at the point of a triangle with Gamma and Delta Corvi as the base. This one seemed fairly even in brightness, but again, an O-III filter might reveal more. The central star was very obvious. The shape seemed a bit elongated.

NGC 3132 PN - VELA (Eight Burst)
10h 07 -40 26
SIZE 84” X 53” MAGNITUDE 9.87
This is a beautiful glowing sight in the eyepiece. It appeared as an oval shaped ring or annulus. There is a bright star at the centre (Mag 10) surrounded by a darker area. Definitely need an O-III filter to see if more of the detail can be seen.

NGC 3242 PN – HYDRA (Ghost of Jupiter)
10h 24 -18 38
SIZE 45” X 36” MAGNITUDE 7.8
This PN is even brighter than the Eight Burst. It has the appearance of a planet but the colour seemed bluish - more like that of Neptune than Jupiter. A closer look with the 9mm and 2X Barlow showed a glowing disk with a somewhat darker centre. There seemed to be a ghostly band around the edges that gave it a diffuse appearance. The central star flickered in and out as seeing changed. Am I seeing it? Ah yes, there it is. This one is a real stunner.

NGC 1952 (M1) – Supernova Remnant – TAURUS (Crab Nebula)
05h 34 +22 00
SIZE 6.5 X 5.0 MAGNITUDE 8.77
Not far from Zeta, the Crab Nebula is a fairly bright glowing object, somewhat oval shaped. It has been compared to the shape of a potato, and that’s a pretty good comparison. The brightness seemed uneven across the disk and the edges had a suggestion of raggedness or unevenness. An easy object to pick up.

After these were examined I ended by looking through Orion.

NGC 2024 – Emission Nebula – Orion (Flame Nebula)
05h 41 -01 49
SIZE 35’ X 30’ MAGNITUDE 10.7
Well, I have looked long and hard for the famous Horsehead, and it’s still out there somewhere. This nebula is much easier to catch. It appears and a pair of glowing strips of gas with a dark lane separating them. Easier to see if you leave Zeta out of the field.

The session ended with another look at M42, the Trapezium and Rigel with its pretty little companion sitting alongside. Easy to spot it even in the 17mm. The observations above were conducted over two of the best nights I have spent at the eyepiece. Very enjoyable. Thanks for looking!
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Old 13-02-2010, 07:38 PM
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Certainly sounds like some good observing, Paul. A few things there that I haven't looked at yet - better add them to that long list! I have to agree about both eight burst and ghost of Jupiter - both are beautiful and intriguing to observe.
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Old 13-02-2010, 07:42 PM
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Nice report as usual mate! Unfortunately, complete disgusting overcast here, it's feral.


The NGC 2452/3 pair sounds interesting, and fits in the same FOV at 214x...sounds like quite a treat, I must check it out. I agree with you on NGC 3242....IMO it's the best PNe in the sky for colour and detail. Heck of all the PNe, it's my absolute favourite. Totally creams the grey donut of M57!

Lots of great PNe making their way into the skies now, Including NGC 3242, NGC 3132, NGC 3918, NGC 3699, NGC 2818, NGC 3195 and ofcourse the Spiral Planetary
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Old 13-02-2010, 08:35 PM
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Thanks for the kind remarks SAB. Some nice potential targets listed. Especially 2818, the photos show an unusual shape. A wonder if it is physically associated with the cluster or just in the foreground? A couple of the others are going to be tough to find, small and faint.
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Old 13-02-2010, 09:09 PM
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Nice report again there Paul.

Next time your in Puppis and after reading both part 1 and 2 you missed NGC 2440 ! small oval looking planetary but in you scope should show up very well as fairly large oval shape, it sort like a haze around a small oval.
Sab any comments re this one?

keep up the good observing Paul

I still haven't christened my scope yet Sab's clouds in the way.
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Old 13-02-2010, 09:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave47tuc View Post
Nice report again there Paul.

Next time your in Puppis and after reading both part 1 and 2 you missed NGC 2440 ! small oval looking planetary but in you scope should show up very well as fairly large oval shape, it sort like a haze around a small oval.
Sab any comments re this one?
It looks like an alien and am therefore scared to observe it

This is what I see in 12" dob:

At 533x, it shows 2 white knots very close to each other, almost touching, superimposed on an oval haze with a detached southern portion. This gives the PNe a somewhat unsettling appearance, like an alien with two beady glowing eyes staring back at ya!

I have sketched it in the 10" dob at 625x, I'll try and upload it.

Quote:
I still haven't christened my scope yet Sab's clouds in the way.
It's all John Batman's fault for settling Melbourne in such a crappy climate Nice one mate! You going to give your scope a name?
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Last edited by pgc hunter; 13-02-2010 at 09:35 PM.
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Old 13-02-2010, 09:37 PM
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That's funny I like your description

Not to over run your thread Paul

Sab what are you using these days for reporting your observations? You still sketch? or are you making quick field notes then writing more details later?

Also Star Atlas's, with out the Argo Navis I still like using the old Uranometria. Your still using Millennium Atlas?
SA 2000 ?
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Old 13-02-2010, 09:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Dave47tuc View Post
That's funny I like your description

Not to over run your thread Paul

Sab what are you using these days for reporting your observations? You still sketch? or are you making quick field notes then writing more details later?
Just the old school pen and paper. I jot down some notes including brightness, size, magnification, any details seen and then polish em up later.

Quote:
Also Star Atlas's, with out the Argo Navis I still like using the old Uranometria. Your still using Millennium Atlas?
SA 2000 ?
I use the MSA. Some times I print off charts from CDC and DSS images. I also have Skyatlas 2000, but don't use it much except perhaps when I'm hunting brighter objects or general milky way sweeping with the smaller scopes. I also have the H-B atlas which seems to plot a whole swag of more obscure/lesser known DSOs and also the close up maps come in handy, but I really, really hate the way they represent nebulae in the H-B atlas, with simply a square regardless of size, which makes it impossible to use field stars for reference when hunting large, faint nebs as you are left unsure of its actual boundaries etc.
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Old 13-02-2010, 09:48 PM
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Thanks
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Old 13-02-2010, 09:58 PM
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Thanks for the comments David. 2440 is on my list as well, I haven't finished with Puppis yet. I went to bed before I could find it. Unfortunately I spend all day in front of a computer monitor and after 2 or 3 hours at the eyepiece, the eyes feel pretty tired. If SAB's crappy cloud stays down in Melbourne where it belongs, I'll have another look
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Old 13-02-2010, 10:03 PM
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Glad to hear its on the list.
Yeh Sab and his cloud, I tell ya he has cursed us all.
Hopefully we get some good nights later next week,
But its hard through the week till daylight saving goes away.
I had planed the last 2 Saturday nights up at Julian's place so third time lucky next Saturday night
He has a few Naglers I can borrow for my scope

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lismore Bloke View Post
Thanks for the comments David. 2440 is on my list as well, I haven't finished with Puppis yet. I went to bed before I could find it. Unfortunately I spend all day in front of a computer monitor and after 2 or 3 hours at the eyepiece, the eyes feel pretty tired. If SAB's crappy cloud stays down in Melbourne where it belongs, I'll have another look
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Old 14-02-2010, 07:20 AM
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I woke at about 2.30am, and rather than keep the wife awake as well, I went outside for a look. Checked out Carina and Vela and then found 5189. It looked very unusual in the 22mm, so I put in the 12mm with the UHC, what a difference. It really does look like a barred spiral galaxy. A beauty. There are apparently 2 other PN's nearby, 5315 and IC4191. These are pretty small by comparison.
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