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Old 05-03-2011, 05:30 PM
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Planetary Nebula report 25/02/11

Planetary Nebulae NGC 3132,,NGC 2440.
Various observers have made reports with these two planetary Nebula included in their reports, so I decided to dedicate one observing session
to just these two objects

Planetary Nebula Report 25/02/11

21.44
Transparency 8-10 Seeing 7-10
Observed with 16" scope

NGC 3132 Eight Burst Planetary Nebula in Vela.

IN a 21mm Plossl eyepiece 88xmag.is seen as a small faint oval surrounding Mag 9 Star,
the central star over whelmed the nebula making
it more difficult to see without averted vision.

UHC filter improves the view of the nebula but dims the star.

O111 Filter brightens the nebula but makes the central star nearly invisible.

13mm Nagler 140 x mag.Higher magnification makes this a much easier object to see,
no difficulty identifying it as a planetary nebula.
the nebula is visible all the time and does not blink out as with lower power.

UHC filter fills in the nebula with some mottling seen, after a few minutes I felt that I was seeing a reddish hue surrounding the nebula,but was not sure?
The central star was still very prominent.

With O111 The Nebula was very bright and also had some darker patches and the southern part of the ring
seemed to be a double edge which made the nebula not round but elongated

6mm Radian 304xmag. In this eyepiece the planetary nebula is quite large, central star very bright
The reddish hue was seen without a doubt,no filter was used to see the colour
O111 filter confirmed the impression of the double lobe.
This object takes all the magnification you can give it.

22.42
NGC 2440 Planetary Nebula in Puppis
Strange Planetary nebula, in a 21mm Plossl 88Xmag, looks like a faint out of focus star with no detail,
O111 filter confirmed it as a P/N.
In a 9mm TMB 203xmag, it seems like a galaxy with two nuculei Best viewed with the O111 filter, showing the extensions north and south,with the northern extension being the longer.
In a 6mm Radian 305xmag,The two bright lobes are well separated and the extensions are more pronounced
In steadier Seeing I could see another spot of light,making it a triangle with extensions.
O111 and UHC both improve the view with the UHC being the more aesthetically pleasing.
This was a difficult observation as the object was just about on the Meridian which in a large Dob is not the best place to observe.

22.51
Saturn,6mm Radian 2.5x barlow,no storm seen.
Finished observing 23.00
This image of NGC2440 approximates what I see in very high mag with a 6mm Radian plus 2.5 Barlow giving a magnification of 762 x in the 16" scope .
Cheers
Attached Images
 

Last edited by astroron; 05-03-2011 at 10:25 PM. Reason: Further information
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  #2  
Old 05-03-2011, 05:39 PM
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jjjnettie (Jeanette)
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Makes me want to get out there and see it for myself Ron.
Great reporting.
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  #3  
Old 05-03-2011, 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by jjjnettie View Post
Makes me want to get out there and see it for myself Ron.
Great reporting.
Thanks Jeanette
You will be back in the land of the visual observers in the future
Cheers
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Old 05-03-2011, 09:49 PM
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Wow, what a great report Ron! So well detailed and explained.

Regarding NGC 3132: I too (tho my scope is smaller) found that low mag did nothing to bring this nebula to life, compared to what high mag and a filter does.
I'll have to tell Orestis to look here as he had no luck finding it. It's a tough one this one, looks so much like a star, and if it was right next to a really big bright star finding it would be so much easier than star hopping and looking for something whilst being unsure what it's supposed to look like.

I noticed at high mag. (120x) with a 10mm eye piece, that the outer ring to be a dark orange colour. I studied this for what must have been a good 30 minutes at least. The orange was very apparent when I turned away and looked back at it again. As seems to be the usual case I'm finding with these planetaries is that they really do have to be blinked out. I showed hubby, but he could see no orange ring that I could saw clearly see . I put this down to his eyes not being fully dark adapted as he came from bright lights inside the house to outside straight away. I also remember what I learned a while ago.. breathe, deeply. Oxygen helps the brain and in turn our eyesight (not too much deep breathing otherwise one could pass out ). Lots of breathing done in the final stages of that 30 mins. I can tell you.

If I didn't end up finding out that the Eight Burst Nebula was stellar looking, I think I would have gone mad finding it. It took me three observation sessions to get it. What made this object harder for me to find is that it wasn't on my Starry Nights software (which I use as a guide to star hop), nor is the finder scope on my dob yet as I'm currently using the red dot finder. Will hopefully drill some holes in tube soon. I think I'm a either a legend on that merit alone or just one determed wittle astronomer . What eventually saved my sanity was this (the second pic give some stars to hop) and shows just how stellar it looks.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=42918


Bit of interesting info on this from Wiki. I didn't know there were two stars involved in this neb.
Quote:
mages of NGC 3132 reveal two stars close together within the nebulosity, one of 10th magnitude, the other 16th. The central planetary nebula nucleus (PNN) or white dwarf central star is the fainter of these two stars. This hot central star of about 100,000 K has now blown off its layers and is making the nebula fluoresce brightly from the emission of its intense ultraviolet radiation.
I'm sure your report will help many people that are trying to find this.

Regarding NGC 2440: This appears to be another tough candidate .
William Hershell described this as "a beautiful planetary nebula of a considerable degree of brightness, not very well defined." Which is pretty much spot on to your observations. Though the brightness factor I think could have something to do with the fact that he had a really really big telescope.
Within this is nebula is possibly the hottest known white dwarf star!
I'll know what to expect now, as I was going to add this one to my list for a future observing session.

Planetaries nebulas are tough little guys to get. And I've read that they're not recommended for beginners as they do take a fair bit of observing skills and are not appreciated as much by beginners. But I love them- bring them. I have all the determination of...of..of well, just do!
As these objects are difficult/faint, it really is helpful to get a well reported observation using different magnifications and filters as you did Ron, which will help many people. Thank you.

Last edited by Suzy; 06-03-2011 at 01:01 AM.
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Old 07-03-2011, 12:37 PM
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Nice observations,

hoping to find the eight burst soon and to see if i notice any colour too.

Cheers this will help me a lot
Orestis
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Old 07-03-2011, 01:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzy View Post
Wow, what a great report Ron! So well detailed and explained.

Regarding NGC 3132: I too (tho my scope is smaller) found that low mag did nothing to bring this nebula to life, compared to what high mag and a filter does.
I'll have to tell Orestis to look here as he had no luck finding it. It's a tough one this one, looks so much like a star, and if it was right next to a really big bright star finding it would be so much easier than star hopping and looking for something whilst being unsure what it's supposed to look like.

I noticed at high mag. (120x) with a 10mm eye piece, that the outer ring to be a dark orange colour. I studied this for what must have been a good 30 minutes at least. The orange was very apparent when I turned away and looked back at it again. As seems to be the usual case I'm finding with these planetaries is that they really do have to be blinked out. I showed hubby, but he could see no orange ring that I could saw clearly see . I put this down to his eyes not being fully dark adapted as he came from bright lights inside the house to outside straight away. I also remember what I learned a while ago.. breathe, deeply. Oxygen helps the brain and in turn our eyesight (not too much deep breathing otherwise one could pass out ). Lots of breathing done in the final stages of that 30 mins. I can tell you.

If I didn't end up finding out that the Eight Burst Nebula was stellar looking, I think I would have gone mad finding it. It took me three observation sessions to get it. What made this object harder for me to find is that it wasn't on my Starry Nights software (which I use as a guide to star hop), nor is the finder scope on my dob yet as I'm currently using the red dot finder. Will hopefully drill some holes in tube soon. I think I'm a either a legend on that merit alone or just one determed wittle astronomer . What eventually saved my sanity was this (the second pic give some stars to hop) and shows just how stellar it looks.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=42918


Bit of interesting info on this from Wiki. I didn't know there were two stars involved in this neb.
I'm sure your report will help many people that are trying to find this.

Regarding NGC 2440: This appears to be another tough candidate .
William Hershell described this as "a beautiful planetary nebula of a considerable degree of brightness, not very well defined." Which is pretty much spot on to your observations. Though the brightness factor I think could have something to do with the fact that he had a really really big telescope.
Within this is nebula is possibly the hottest known white dwarf star!
I'll know what to expect now, as I was going to add this one to my list for a future observing session.

Planetaries nebulas are tough little guys to get. And I've read that they're not recommended for beginners as they do take a fair bit of observing skills and are not appreciated as much by beginners. But I love them- bring them on. I have all the determination of...of..of well, just do!
As these objects are difficult/faint, it really is helpful to get a well reported observation using different magnifications and filters as you did Ron, which will help many people. Thank you.
Thankyou Suzy for your reply to my post
I will continue to look at NGC 3132 to improve my Observation of the P/N to tease more colour out of my favourite Southern Planetary Nebula
I hope you continue to strive to search out these fascinating Deep Sky objects
Cheers
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Old 07-03-2011, 02:21 PM
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Well done Ron, some great info there.
Will certainly take notes, and add to my targets ... when the skies clear.
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Old 07-03-2011, 02:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orestis View Post
Nice observations,

hoping to find the eight burst soon and to see if i notice any colour too.

Cheers this will help me a lot
Orestis
Thanks
Good Luck
cheers
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Old 07-03-2011, 03:22 PM
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Paddy (Patrick)
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Enjoyed reading your report Ron. Your detailed description had the eight burst very firmly in my mind's eye. Very vivid. It is a great sight! Haven't had a look at 2440 - will put it on my list!
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Old 07-03-2011, 05:28 PM
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astroron (Ron)
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Originally Posted by Paddy View Post
Enjoyed reading your report Ron. Your detailed description had the eight burst very firmly in my mind's eye. Very vivid. It is a great sight! Haven't had a look at 2440 - will put it on my list!
Thanks Patrick,I look forward to your report to what you observe in NGC 2440
Cheers
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Old 09-03-2011, 07:13 PM
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Nice take on two of my favourite PNe's Ron. Thanks for Posting. Both great at high power, and NGC 2440 is one of the most distinct planetaries IMO? Did you get an impression of a creepy face staring back at you, with those two side-by-side knots and the 3rd one when observing it at high mag?

Reddish hue in 3132, top stuff!
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