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Old 05-09-2007, 11:56 PM
Rob_K
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Obs Report, 5 September 2007

Tonight was the Bright Astronomy Group’s monthly meet at Porepunkah airstrip. Following obs were with a Tasco "Space Station" 114x900mm reflector, Alt/Az mount, 21mm Celestron X-Cel ep. Obs time 7pm to 9:30pm.

First thing I saw was Hercules up in the sky, so different to my backyard with trees & hills in the way. Immediately realised I might be able to see globular cluster M92, which I hadn’t been able to see before.

M92 (NGC6341) in Hercules: This was down in the murk, and despite no stars being visible down there to guide me, I pointed the scope in the general position, looked through the eyepiece, and it was dead centre! Mag 5.9 and quite bright even against the crinkly brown background. Smaller and more centrally-condensed than the nearby M13. This was the 100th globular cluster I’ve seen through the 4.5" scope! Glob NGC6229 in Hercules was too low unfortunately – might have to travel north to see this.

NGC7006 in Delphinus: At mag 10.6 I thought that this globular might be a real challenge, but it proved quite easy to see. Very small, dim, centrally brightened. Not really "starlike" though in the same way that some other small, distant globs appear. In averted vision, got the impression of a small extremely dim extension to the cluster, but not sure. Number 101!

Realistically, the only future additions to my list are likely to be NGC6229 (Hercules) & NGC2419 (Lynx). Went on to re-visit a number of other globulars, including M13, M72, M30 (a ripper!), M56 and M71.

Observed some brighter planetary nebulae, including M57 Ring Nebula (so tiny!), M27 Dumbbell Nebula (dumbbell shape was visible) and, for the first time, NGC7293 Helix Nebula. This floored me, so big! At first it appeared as a large, circular grey shape, but after staring at it for a while, the brighter extremities became visible.

Viewed several nebulae through a 12" Lightbridge – included Swan, Lagoon & Trifid. Lagoon also looked good in my scope, but you really need the extra light for Trifid & Swan.

Also viewed Uranus, very easy to find at the moment as a bright pale blue dot close to Phi Aquarii. Also viewed it with 8mm ep, which revealed the tiny disc. Absolutely riveting, and hard to drag the eyes away! Cloud then came in, and I packed up about 9:30pm. A great night!

Thanks Doug for inspiring me to post this!

Cheers -
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Old 06-09-2007, 07:30 AM
DougAdams
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Porepunkah... very jealous. Lovely spot, good bike riding through there!

I was playing tennis last night, but got the binoculars out at 1am and had a look at the LMC, which was barely naked eye near Canopus. Seeing looked good late last night.
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Old 06-09-2007, 07:38 AM
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NQLD_Newby
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Congrats Rob, Nice report.

I find m57, and M27 look much better with my 11mm or 5mm, than it does with my 20mm. Both EP's give good views, it just depends on the seeing of the night as to which is best.

I am yet to find the helix, not for the lack of trying though. Gives me something to look forward too. (The day i finally nail it).

Another one in this area for you to try is the Saturn Nebula, is a little smaller than M57, and harder to find, but once you do, the longer you look at it the more you see. Once again, my 11mm or 5mm are best.

Happy hunting and thanks for the report.
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Old 06-09-2007, 09:42 AM
Rob_K
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Thanks guys! Rex, thanks for the advice - have viewed Ring & Dumbbell with my 8mm. I don't think Helix would stand higher mag with my setup though (ghost-out!). Will have to check out the Saturn nebula!

In my scope at f8, the 8mm is the equivalent to a 5mm in yours at f5. Your 11mm is about the same as an 18mm would be in mine.

Cheers -
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Old 06-09-2007, 10:03 AM
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Hello again Rob.

What EP did you use for the Helix?

I have a Televue 40mm which is really a finder as with my set up its only X13, and I have some exit pupil probs with this EP(eye must be in just the right position to see the entire FOV), I knew it would be a problem before I bought it but I picked it up in great condition for $50 bucks so will be great for when i upgrade my scope next year. In the mean time I mainly use it barlowed as a 20mm and is really a great EP....... anyway sorry got side tracked there.

In this EP as a 40, I have looked in what I am pretty sure is the correct area but haven't located it yet. I have also tried in my 20mm (Barlowed 40mm) and my 11mm. So any advise you can give me would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
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Old 06-09-2007, 10:28 AM
Rob_K
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Hi Rex! I think I would use the 11mm for Helix, or the 40mm/Barlow combination. I was using a 21mm X-Cel ep, giving me a magnification of about 43x. Helix is much bigger than Dumbbell, and while it was fainter, it was very obvious in the view as a large, roughly circular grey shadow. Admittedly I had excellent dark skies, and I don't know how it would go with a bit of light pollution in the mix. As I said in the post, the longer I looked the more I saw of the brighter edges, and it became sort of 3-D with sufficient detail to make it recogniseable as the Helix.

I lobbed on it first-up, just using the chart in the Astronomy 2007 yearbook. If you have this, the 3 small stars shown that it is "mixed up" with were naked eye. These are between δ Capricornii and ε Piscis Austrinii. I have a red dot finder, so I aimed the dot between two of the stars, in the position shown, and there it was. Hope this helps.

Cheers -
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Old 06-09-2007, 11:47 AM
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Thanks Rob, Hopefully I'll get a chance to try it tonight.

No I don't have the atlas as such, I use Tasco Skywatch Software that came with my scope, So should be fairly acurate. Thanks again for your help.
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