OBSERVATIONS IN PUPPIS – Part 1
18-1-2010
30cm DOBSONIAN
Seeing: 3.5 / 5
Transparency: 4 / 5
Dew: Moderate, but increased with time and fogged the Telrad!
Time: 9 – 11.15pm (approx)
Sizes, magnitudes etc from Deep Sky Browser (Messier 45.com)
NGC 2451 – 7h 45.4m - -37.48 – Size: 45’ – Mag: 2.8
This is a large and bright cluster in a nice field, easily filling the field of the Nagler 22. Prominent is the bright orange star c Puppis, contrasting beautifully with the rest of the cluster.
NGC 2477 - 7h 52.3 - -38.33 – Size 27’ – Mag. 5.8
This cluster is smaller and fainter than 2451, but very attractive. The stars are quite numerous and seem to be in curved arrangements with dark gaps between. The central half of the group is somewhat denser in concentration. Looks a bit like a diffuse globular.
NGC 2546 – 8h 12.4 - -37.38 – Size: 40’ – Mag: 6.3
This is another large group that more than fills the field of the Nagler 22. The stars are rather scattered and there is no sign of any concentration towards the centre. Prominent group of stars in a strip at one edge.
NGC 2437 (M46) - 7h 41.43 - -14.48 – Size 27’ – Mag: 6.1
Beautiful cluster, somewhat concentrated towards centre. The stars seem to be fairly uniform in brightness, but it is difficult to determine the edges, as it seems to merge with the rest of the star field.
NGC 2438 - 7h 41.5 - -14.44 – Size: 73”x68” Mag: 11
Grey (slightly bluish) round planetary nebula projected onto NGC 2437 cluster. Higher power with averted vision revealed the PN was somewhat ring-shaped (annular is probably a better description) with brighter edges. There is a star visible just off the centre (probably not the origin of the nebula) and another one just off the edge. Both OC and PN make a very nice combination. UHC filter helped viewing PN somewhat, O-III would probably be better still.
NGC 2467 OC – 7h 52.6 - 26.23 – Size 15’ – Bright Neb – 7h 52.05 - -26.27 – Size: 8’ x 7
The same NGC number seems to be applied to both the emission nebula and cluster, which is a nice object itself. The nebula is bright and seems round in shape with at least one bright star towards the centre. The UHC filter helped improve the view. I know there is more to see here, as reports place quite a few faint stars on the nebula, but I'm not reporting things I don't see. Definitely having another look.
NGC 2447 7h 44.32 - -23.51 – Size: 12’ – Mag: 6.2
This cluster is a bright, dense and compact group, a bit triangular in shape - very nice field.
NGC 2422 (M47) – 7h 36.33 - -14.30 – Size: 29’ – Mag: 4.4
Very beautiful field of scattered white stars, including a rather spectacular white double star. Many stars seem to be in chains. Large cluster needs low power. Impressive sight with a bright orange star nearby.
Thanks for the kind words Orestis, the open clusters in puppis are beautiful, sometimes overshadowed by the Carina region.
Thank you Humayun. I tried to load your images but just got the wording. The one object in Puppis that would be good to image would be NGC 2467.
The nebula has quite a bit of intricate detail and delicate edges, as well as embedded stars, and the field is beautiful too. This shows it well, I just wish I could see some of that detail visually ... oh well ...
I just tried again Humayun, the IIS link didn't work and I navigated to the parent directory (Magellan) manually. Quite a few images would load, but others didn't. The comet, Eta Car, Southern Pleaides, Seagull, Christmas tree, 2451 - didn't display anything except text. Tarantula said access forbidden. I have to say that the images that did work are stunners!! Great work!!
Got it now Humayun, I was using Firefox on the Mac at work before. The Windows version I am using at home shows the image just fine. Great shot. The orange star is a real feature.
Thank you Humayun. I tried to load your images but just got the wording. The one object in Puppis that would be good to image would be NGC 2467.
The nebula has quite a bit of intricate detail and delicate edges, as well as embedded stars, and the field is beautiful too. This shows it well, I just wish I could see some of that detail visually ... oh well ...
and am re imaging it right now with a QHY8; if it turns out half decent I may post it here if you are interested. Not in colour though, just in H alpha
Thanks for the image Narayan. Yes, it would be good to see another one. The fainter outliers might be visible in a 16-18" in dark skies, but 12" in suburbia just shows the core. I want to have another look to see if I can see the more detail.
here is my image from last night-the nebulosity is extensive
its a nice object all right. Stephen J O'Meara reckons he can spot the core with 7 x50s from Hawaii. I could see nothing from my suburban backyard with 9 x60s-but thats not surprising
Thanks Frank, I hope that I have time to see some more in Puppis before the moon intrudes.
That's a great image Narayan, thanks for taking it and posting it: much appreciated! There are some great clusters in Puppis that would make good targets for the camera. Quite a few are large and the stars fairly bright, that must make things easier. Excellent rendition of fine detail. Stars nicely rounded and sharp. I just wish I could see that sort of detail in the nebula. Cheers, Paul.
Great report, Paul. The only problem with this forum is that when I read such good reports, I want to go and look at all the objects reported and there are so many good reports that my list is getting ridiculously long. Having observed some before doesn't help as the descriptions stoke my curiosity to return. And thanks to all for the beautiful images.
NGC 2438 is a very nice object, neat seeing a soap bubble float among a cluster of stars.
Try using high power with a filter and you might notice that it is actually a horseshoe shape, rather than a ring, as the NW end is much fainter than the rest of the annulus.
Thanks for the kind words PGC. I will have another go at that pretty soap bubble. I might see more if we swapped mirrors, you know GSO make a pretty mean mirror these days ...