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Old 13-04-2011, 03:48 PM
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Paddy (Patrick)
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Some delights in Carina and Musca 7-8/4/11

Managed a few hours observing on 7th and 8th April, alas high haze or smoke from burning fields and forests limited observing to open clusters and brighter objects to the south. Still, some very beautiful and interesting objects to observe! Here are my notes.

Telescope 410mm (16”) f4.9 tri-dob reflector
Eyepieces 28mm UWAN, 17,13,9 mm Naglers, Paracorr
Navigation: Night Sky Observer’s Guide (NSOG)
Data NGC/IC Project

7/4/2011

2230

Seeing excellent 2/5
Transparency fair/poor – thin high haze, Milky Way & Magellanic Clouds visible but with some haze, no stars visible in Coal Sack. Omega Centauri still visible to naked eye. Poor enough to make galaxy observing unrewarding.

NGC 3114 OC in Carina
10h 02m 42.7s -60º 06' 32"
Vmag 4.2 Size 35’

Obvious to the naked eye 80X Large cluster, very impressive amongst the many field stars taking up half the 1 degree TFOV with this eyepiece and sprays of stars spilling out into the field. Quite a degree of variation of magnitude, with a very bright yellowish star on the eastern side and another to the NE and a big spray of stars to the south, looping out to the east. Many interesting swirls and lines of stars. The cluster is set against a beautiful stippling of countless faintly luminous background galactic disc stars. Amazing.

Just to the ESE of NGC 3114 is

Trumpler 12 OC in Carina

175X An interesting hazy, box-shaped cluster 4’ across with a number of fainter resolvable stars against and one very bright star to the west, with a string of stars and haze extending westward from this star. Quite distinct against the myriad background stars and quite a few brighter field stars. The bright star is the apex of a V of resolvable stars

Ruprecht 161 OC in Carina

135X Very dispersed cluster of many bright stars which does not immediately stand out as a cluster.

Melotte 101 OC in Carina

135X Distinct cluster of many fainter stars of similar magnitude with much brighter lucida on its western border. Many lines and curves of stars throughout. Looks about 15’ across. There is a distinct stippling of disc stars as a background.

NGC 3496 OC in Carina
10h 59m 33.8s -60º 20' 12"
Vmag 8.2 Size 9’

135X Distinct patch of fainter resolvable stars about 10’ across. Appears elongated somewhat E-W. A pointed bulge to the east thins towards the middle of the cluster and then splits into 2 curves at the western edge, one heading north and the other to the south.

NGC 3503/Pismis 17 OC + nebula in Carina
11h 01m 17.3s -59º 50' 50"
Size 3’x3’

175X A small delicate triangle of stars, the base of which is formed by a line of three stars at the eastern edge, the apex by one to the west. The triangle encloses a tall triangular patch of nebulosity. Quite a delightful little object.

NGC 3255 OC in Carina
10h 26m 31.3s -60º 40' 42"
Vmag 11 Size 2’

175X A delicate little clump of stars – at low power seems to be just a circular patch of haze, but this mag shows many resolvable stars. Looks about 2’ across.

The transparency is deteriorating rapidly.

8/4/2011

2115

Seeing 2/5
Transparency fair – Coal Sack stands out but no faint stars visible within it.

NGC 4833 GC in Musca
12h 59m 34.9s 70º 52' 28"
Vmag 8.4 Size 13.5’

175X This is quite a stunning GC with many resolvable stars against a slightly irregular circular haze and many stars spilling beyond the halo with a wide core.

NGC 4372 GC in Musca
12h 25m 45.4s -72º 39' 33"
Vmag 7.2 Size 18.6’

175X Very close to Lambda Muscae and similar in size to NGC 4833 but with no sign of central concentration. Roughly circular splash of resolvable stars against stippled halo. The are some dark patches in the GC, one is v-shaped pointing to the west.

NGC 4071 PN in Musca
12h 04m 15.3s -67º 18' 35"
Vmag 13 Size 1.3’

250X With direct vision appears stellar, but averted vision reveals a small faint haze which is accentuated by UHC filter, but more so by OIII. Easy to overlook.

NGC 4463 OC in Musca
12h 29m 55.2s -64º 47' 23"
Vmag 7.2 Size 5’

175X Twenty or so stars spread across 3’x6’ the brightest of which form the eastern base of an equilateral triangle at the western edge of the cluster with a lovely curved sinew of stars forming the apex and curving off to the east with a delicate haze behind.

Harvard 8 OC in Musca

175X An interesting and delicate object – to the east there is a N-S convex east curve of stars with a sharp turn to the west at the northern end with a small bright clump of stars at its tip and a fine point at the southern end of the arc. There is a strand of stars heading west from this curve. The whole thing looks like a distorted T of about 25 stars.

NGC 5189 PN in Musca “Spiral Planetary Nebula”
13h 33m 32.91s -65º 58' 26.6"
Mag 10.3 Size 140”

250X A truly stunning and intricate PN. A bright star at the western end of the PN which has an E-W bar which curves south at the eastern end and bifurcates at the western end. The bar sits within a broad halo of fainter nebulosity with a distinct outer edge and dark lobes either side of the central bar. The northern lobe has a more marked outer border. There is further nebulosity beyond the halo to the southeast. The shape is reminiscent of a section through a seashell with a thick spiral core and a delicate outer shell. . Brightens with UHC filter. With OIII filter the spaces between the spiral and the shell glow a little more as does the patch to the east. 440X Remains very bright and distinct and confirms structure described above but a few bright patches appear the most obvious in the southern lobe.
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Old 13-04-2011, 08:10 PM
Rob_K
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Nice report Patrick, great to see Musca getting a good workout! The two GCs are amongst my favourite objects, such a contrast between them.

Cheers -
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Old 14-04-2011, 03:46 PM
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Oh Paddy, what a fabulous report! I've enjoyed it so much that I've read it three times under 24 hours already! Your descriptions were out of this world - I just realised I made a funny!
I love that you observe and report on star clusters as you must know by now, they are amongst my favourite objects.

The only thing I have seen on your list seems to be the GC in Musca- NGC
4833. I saw it as quite a large glob but at 200x I just couldn't resolve it on that night. All I could see was a hazy ball. From your description (and of course much larger scope ) you make mention of a "circular haze" so I was wondering if this was quite fuzzy for you as well? I know I just simply will have to re-visit this with keener eyes, perhaps higher magnification even though I think the mag. I used is pushing it anyway.

That list of targets is an interesting one to me; I haven't got most of those catalogues, some I hadn't even heard of. And if you got those out of the Night Sky Observers Guide Book (which I've ordered and should get any day now ), I may be one step closer.

Thank you Paddy for sharing your observations.
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Old 15-04-2011, 12:58 AM
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excellent report Paddy. NGC 3114 to me always looks like a nazi sign! The Spiral planetary is fascinating and my own obs tend to agree with yours.

Last edited by pgc hunter; 15-04-2011 at 09:08 AM.
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Old 15-04-2011, 07:15 AM
ausastronomer (John Bambury)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddy View Post
NGC 4372 GC in Musca
12h 25m 45.4s -72º 39' 33"
Vmag 7.2 Size 18.6’

175X Very close to Lambda Muscae and similar in size to NGC 4833 but with no sign of central concentration. Roughly circular splash of resolvable stars against stippled halo. The are some dark patches in the GC, one is v-shaped pointing to the west.
Very nice report Paddy. I recently spent some time on most of these targets recently at Coonabarabran.

When observing this globular its always worth checking out "The Dark Doodad" which is just South of NGC 4372. It is a really nice dark Nebula, almost 3 degrees long and about 10' wide.

http://astronomy.fm/aapod/images/aap...1255270526.jpg

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddy View Post

NGC 5189 PN in Musca “Spiral Planetary Nebula”
13h 33m 32.91s -65º 58' 26.6"
Mag 10.3 Size 140”

250X A truly stunning and intricate PN. A bright star at the western end of the PN which has an E-W bar which curves south at the eastern end and bifurcates at the western end. The bar sits within a broad halo of fainter nebulosity with a distinct outer edge and dark lobes either side of the central bar. The northern lobe has a more marked outer border. There is further nebulosity beyond the halo to the southeast. The shape is reminiscent of a section through a seashell with a thick spiral core and a delicate outer shell. . Brightens with UHC filter. With OIII filter the spaces between the spiral and the shell glow a little more as does the patch to the east. 440X Remains very bright and distinct and confirms structure described above but a few bright patches appear the most obvious in the southern lobe.
When we were at Coonabarabran recently with our American and Korean visitors on our OZSKY 2011 trip, we spent a lot of time on this target with the 30" SDM and the 25" Obsession.

It really is a wonderful planetary. One of the Koreans and one of the Americans commented that they felt it was the nicest planetary they had ever seen.

Cheers,
John B
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Old 17-04-2011, 07:11 PM
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Paddy (Patrick)
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Thanks all for your replies!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzy View Post
Oh Paddy, what a fabulous report! I've enjoyed it so much that I've read it three times under 24 hours already! Your descriptions were out of this world - I just realised I made a funny!
I love that you observe and report on star clusters as you must know by now, they are amongst my favourite objects.

The only thing I have seen on your list seems to be the GC in Musca- NGC
4833. I saw it as quite a large glob but at 200x I just couldn't resolve it on that night. All I could see was a hazy ball. From your description (and of course much larger scope ) you make mention of a "circular haze" so I was wondering if this was quite fuzzy for you as well? I know I just simply will have to re-visit this with keener eyes, perhaps higher magnification even though I think the mag. I used is pushing it anyway.

That list of targets is an interesting one to me; I haven't got most of those catalogues, some I hadn't even heard of. And if you got those out of the Night Sky Observers Guide Book (which I've ordered and should get any day now ), I may be one step closer.

Thank you Paddy for sharing your observations.
I had noticed your passion for opens clusters Suzy and it's one that I fully share. And some of the smaller ones are the most stunning. The haze I was referring to in NGC 4833 was the ball of unresolved stars that appears behind those that I could resolve and there were quite a few of those. I think you would probably resolve a lot of stars with your scope under a dark sky. Regarding the catalogues, I found all of these objects using the Night Sky Observers Guide as an atlas - many were good stepping stones to the next object. As Rob says, the two GCs in Musca make a great contrasting pair and are well worth visiting in close succession. Thanks for your enthusiastic reply!

Quote:
Originally Posted by pgc hunter View Post
excellent report Paddy. NGC 3114 to me always looks like a nazi sign! The Spiral planetary is fascinating and my own obs tend to agree with yours.
Thanks, Sab. I find that once I've seen a pattern like that in a cluster it's very hard to shake. That one is a little unfortunate. Unless you focus on the history of the symbol - it was originally a Hindu then a Buddhist symbol with very benign connotations.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ausastronomer View Post
Very nice report Paddy. I recently spent some time on most of these targets recently at Coonabarabran.

When observing this globular its always worth checking out "The Dark Doodad" which is just South of NGC 4372. It is a really nice dark Nebula, almost 3 degrees long and about 10' wide.

http://astronomy.fm/aapod/images/aap...1255270526.jpg



When we were at Coonabarabran recently with our American and Korean visitors on our OZSKY 2011 trip, we spent a lot of time on this target with the 30" SDM and the 25" Obsession.

It really is a wonderful planetary. One of the Koreans and one of the Americans commented that they felt it was the nicest planetary they had ever seen.

Cheers,
John B
Thanks John. I always finish my observing with a browse with my binoculars after I put the scope to bed - I find it hard to let go of the night sky - and often peruse the Dark Doodad when Musca is in a good spot. I haven't really looked at it with my scope though. That gorgeous image of it makes me wonder if it is worth using the scope to see what detail I could pick out. And isn't that field of stars just stunning. I agree about NGC 5189 being one of the best PNs to observe - so much interesting detail is apparent.
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Old 20-04-2011, 02:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddy View Post

Thanks, Sab. I find that once I've seen a pattern like that in a cluster it's very hard to shake. That one is a little unfortunate. Unless you focus on the history of the symbol - it was originally a Hindu then a Buddhist symbol with very benign connotations.
Interesting that, I once heard that it was the logo of a pottery company but with it reversed or something.
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Old 25-04-2011, 04:51 PM
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Thanks for posting Paddy,

I should take a look at the spiral nebuale in musca.Sounds like it will offer some good detail.

Cheers Orestis
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Old 27-04-2011, 07:57 AM
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Thanks Orestis. I think you'd love NGC 5189.
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