Observations 24-3-2011 - planetary nebulae

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

OBSERVATIONS 24-3-2011 - PLANETARY NEBULAE
TELESCOPE: 12" DOBSONAN
EP's: 9mm NAGLER with 2" O-III (167X), 5mm NAGLER WITH 2" UHC (300X)
TRANSPARENCY AND SEEING: 7-8 out of 10.
WIND: Virtually calm, DEW: Nil. MOZZIE MEANNESS: Low!!!

The explanation for the PN Classification system is here:
http://www.blackskies.org/class1.htm

Measurements were taken from this site:
http://messier45.com/cgi-bin/dsdb/dsb.pl

NGC 2440 - PN - PUPPIS
RA: 07 41 55
DEC: -18 12 32
SIZE: 74"X42"
MAG: 9.4
CLASS: V(III)
Fascinating PN with an elongated central region, very bright. Averted vision revealed the outer halo running at a different orientation. I would like to see this one in darker skies.

NGC 2438 - PN - PUPPIS
RA: 07 41 50
DEC :-14 44 07
SIZE: 73"X68"
MAG: 11.0
CLASS: IV (II)
Fairly large, pretty circular grey coloured PN plotted against M46. The O-III showed a clear annular appearance. One star near the centre.

NGC 3132 - PN - VELA
RA: 10 07 01
DEC: -40 26 11
SIZE: 84"X53"
CLASS: IV (II)
The famous "Eight Burst" was very bright and oval shaped. Using the 5mm with the O-III showed a darker area around the central star. - this one is apparently not the one lighting up the PN, but a faint companion.
Some info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3132

NGC 2899 - PN - VELA
RA: 09 27 03
DEC: -56 06 23
SIZE: 120"X60"
In the eyepiece this one appeared as a large faint slightly oval disc. Observation reports I have seen mention knots and irregularities, that i cannot honestly say I saw, so this is another one for darker skies than suburbia.

NGC 2867 - PN - CARINA
RA: 09 21 25
DEC: -58 18 42
SIZE: 27"
CLASS: IV
This PN is a very bright, tiny disk with sharp edges and a beautiful bluish colour.

NGC 3242 - PN - HYDRA
RA: 10.24 46
DEC: -18 38 33
SIZE: 45"X36"
MAG: 7.8
Very bright elliptical disk surrounded by a soft, fainter outer shell. Striking light turquoise color. I will certainly keep studying this one.

NGC 4361 - PN - CORVUS
RA: 12 24 30
DEC: -18 47 05
SIZE: 114"
CLASS: IIIa(II)
MAG: 10.9
This PN appeared faint in the eyepiece, but it was in a pretty light part of the sky, and the moon wasn't far away. A bit elongated. I didn't note the central star, but it should be visible. I will have another look when it is better placed.

NGC 2792 - PN - VELA
RA: 09 12 26
DEC: -42 25 31
SIZE: 13"X13"
MAG: 11.8
CLASS: IV
This small PN was quite bluish in colour and had a suggestion of annularity.

NGC 2867 - PN - CARINA
RA: 09 21 25
DEC:-58 18 42
SIZE: 27"
MAG: 9.7
CLASS: IV
This was a tiny disk with a distinct bluish colour, needing the 5mm to see it properly. It's no wonder discoverer John Herschel thought he had a new planet!
Some more info: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclo.../NGC_2867.html

NGC 3699 - PN - CENTAURUS
RA: 11 27 57
DEC: -59 57 29
SIZE: 70"
MAG: 14
I couldn't believe the magnitude of this one and would have noted it as a possible misidentification, but the Argo had been picking up all these PN's with excellent accuracy. Luckily I had the O-III on all the time or I might have passed it over unseen. The same goes for a couple of others on this list. It appeared an a very faint, ghostly disc. no real details were seen, but I'm very pleased to pick it up.

NGC 3211 - PN - CARINA
RA: 10 17 50
DEC: -62 40 16
SIZE: 16"
MAG: 11.8
CLASS: IIb
This was another fairly bright, bluish coloured disc, evenly illuminated. Nice star field once I unscrewed the O-III for a look without it. The UHC also worked well with this and didn't cause the starfield to suffer anywhere near as much as the O-III.

NGC 3918 - PN - CENTAURUS
RAL: 11 50 17
DEC: -57 10 57
SIZE: 19"
MAG: 8.5
CLASS: IIb
This is one of my favourite PN's, the Blue Planetary presents as a beautiful vivid blue disk with no interior details. the surface brightness is very high. I always think that this PN "belongs" to Crux rather than Centaurus.

Lastly were NGC 4594 (Sombrero), the beautiful NGC 3293 (Carina), and Omega Cen. These last just finished off an excellent and rewarding night at the eyepiece.

Thanks for looking. Cheers, Paul.

[astroron (Ron)]

Nice Report Paul I have reported on a couple of those myself and seen quite a few of the others,But there is also a few I have not observed,I will endeavor to put that right
Cheers

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

Thanks for the kind words, Ron. It was a great session.
I'm off camping for a couple of days, so i will catch up after that.

Cheers, Paul.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

A great swag of interesting PNs there Paul. Interesting that the confidence that you have with the AN helped you detect 3699 - knowing that you were spot on prevented you looking past it, which is easy enough to do. Thanks for an interesting read.

[Suzy]

What a fantastic grab bag of pn's, Paul!
I really enjoyed your report, thank you.

I'm just starting my journey in finding them, so your list will help me to know what to expect. Would you consider the PN in Hydra (Ghost of Jupiter) to be the best/brightest object on your list? I'm eager to see this soon. If not, which one from your list would you recommend as a nice showstopper. I'm working on the bright ones first, before challenging myself further (have only seen The Ring, The Blinking & the Eight Burst so far).
Thanks Paul.

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

Thanks very much Patrick and Suzy,

Yes the Argo really worked well that night with a fresh alignment on Sirius and Canopus. It put every object in the frame of the 9mm. I recently got some T-adapters for the 3 Nagler T6's, so they are all effectively 2", handy that because I only need one filter size.

It was interesting to compare the view through the UHC and O-III on the same object. The O-III really darkened the sky and made the PN stand out much better, but it tends to kill the faint field stars and central star unless it's bright.

Favourite ones apart from the ones you mentioned Suzy:

NGC 1535 Eri., NHC 2440 Puppis, NGC 5189 Musca, NGC 6302 Sco, NGC 7009 (Saturn) Aqr, IC418 Lepus (small), NGC 3918 Cen. Where to stop??? PN's have really become a favourite target with the O-III and 5mm Nagler. Good luck with the search.

There is a list OF PN's here:
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/plannebs.html

Another interesting article on bipolar PN's:

[astroron (Ron)]

Hi Paul,I hope you enjoyed your Camping Trip

Quote
I recently got some T-adapters for the 3 Nagler T6's, so they are all effectively 2", handy that because I only need one filter size.

Could you please explain or show a photo what you mean
I have never heard of them before
I will be picking up a 2" UHC today which I am looking to trying on the 17 mm Nagler
I have mainly 1.25 eyepieces except for my type 4 17 mm Nagler and a
55mm university optics
The 13mm Nagler is a 1,25" or can be used in the 2" mode
Cheers

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

Hi Ron,

I will send a photo when I get home.
I got them from Bintel, about $29 each I think.
They have a standard filter thread on the end
that takes the Astronomik 2" filters and a couple
of grub screws to hold the EP.

Cheers, Paul.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Lismore Bloke

Hi Ron,

I will send a photo when I get home.
I got them from Bintel, about $29 each I think.
They have a standard filter thread on the end
that takes the Astronomik 2" filters and a couple
of grub screws to hold the EP.

Cheers, Paul.

Cheers

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

Hi Ron,

Attached is a pic of the 3 T6's in their
adapters. They are a standard Bintel
2" - 1.25" adapter, $19 each. The filters
are well below the bottom of the 3 EP's
that I have, so no problems there. Focus
has not been a problem as well.

Cheers, Paul.