Colourful Carina

[EpickCrom]

G' Day fellow southern Astronomers! We are blessed in the Southern Hemisphere to have the wonderful constellation of Carina to observe. It packs an astronomical punch! I took a look through my 10 inch dob last night...

Started off right in the heart of the matter, the Carina Nebula. NGC 3372. Wow! Incredible sight, clusters and nebulosity abound. The dark lane cutting the nebula in half was clearly visible. In the centre of this spectacle sat Eta Carinae, the famously unstable star. Hit it with 300x magnification to reveal the Homunculus Nebula. Marvelous, both lobes were clearly seen and dark orange in colour. I moved to NGC 3293, the Gem Cluster next. Strewth! What a stunning open cluster! Small and compressed, reminds me of a richer version of the Tau Canis Majoris cluster. Definitely one of the best open clusters in the night sky.

Speaking of the best open clusters in the skies, I visited NGC 3532 next, the Wishing Well cluster. To me this is the best open cluster in the entire sky. Big, bright, bold and intense. I spent 30 min salivating at the eyepiece at what I was seeing! The globular cluster NGC 2808 was next, a dense ball of stars. I could only resolve some stars on the edges. I completed my observations of Carina by visiting two more beautiful open clusters. First was NGC 2516 the Diamond Cluster. This open cluster should rightfully be in the top 10 of any best open cluster list. Finally I saw NGC 3114, another underated gem. Large and rich, I got lost in its beautiful star patterns. The carbon star SZ Carinae sits on the outskirts of this open cluster, adding to the beauty.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time observing the sights of Carina, one of my favourite constellations. Wishing you all clear skies!

Joe

[GUS.K]

Hi Joe, great read, thanks for sharing your observing session.

[Dave882]

Sounds like you had a wonderful night!! Great write-up :thumbsup:

[EpickCrom]

Thanks Gus, glad you enjoyed reading it!

[EpickCrom]

Cheers Dave. Yeah I had a great time:)

[Dave882]

Inspired by your post and a couple other visual reports I decided to turn the c14 to Carina last night thumbing my nose to the 90% moon, patchy cloud and oppressive swarms of mozzies… I’ve never spent time on the Homunculus Nebula before but this was by far the highlight of the night! Even from the suburbs it was clearly revealed at 140x a deep orange/red colour. At 220x the 2 lobes were beautifully revealed, one being noticeably brighter and a bit larger than the other and surface texture within the lobes apparent when the seeing was better in patches. For a few moments I was certain could just catch some hint of an ejection from eta carinae but I would need better sky to have another go at this. Wow what a blast. I did a drive-by on a couple other targets but kept coming back for another view. I think it’s so amazing if I think how many hours I’ve spent gazing at NGC3372 at low power and never done THIS before! Thanks so much for your report Joe.

Side note- was on the m42 trapezium at 220x when a jet passed directly through the fov of the eyepiece. Scared the absolute crap out of me. Almost fell over. Yikes

[EpickCrom]

Hi Dave. I'm glad my report inspired you to go looking for the Homunculus planetary nebula surrounding Eta Carina. Marvelous isn't it?!That jet that passed in your field of view while you were observed M42 must have shook you up!:eyepop: Wishing you clear skies.

[Tinderboxsky]

Fabulous result, David. Aperture rules on a small object like this, just like planetary.

I managed an observation at 228X magnification through my 140mm refractor on a stunningly clear night. No real detail though, although, I could just make out the two lobes. I do have access to a C14 and will definitely try again.