Find the new planetary in Sky and Tel on the DSS

[montewilson]

If you are as fascinated as I am by the image on page 102 of the December 2008 Sky and Tel and want to know if it is visible on the DSS, it is, just.

Go to RA 20 15 0.00 and Dec +37 40 0 and get a 60' size shot.

Flip the image horizontally to be the same as the printed version

In the Red plate it is located about 3/4 of the way from the centre in the 5 o'clock direction. You will need to stretch the data to see it. Compare it with the printed image to get the location with respect to the dark nebula.

This proves that new deep sky objects are out there waiting for amateurs to discover. The Sky and Tel shot was 21 hours but with modern fast CCD systems it should be visible in much less time.

[hector]

The Planetary that I found near the Ara / Norma border was found on the DSS as well. I was looking for evidence of the 1006 Supernova remenent and stumbled across the planetary. The planetary that I discovered can be seen plainly on the DSS.
Andrew

[montewilson]

Hi Andrew - I missed you at IIS. Maybe next year. I am thinking it would be possible to hunt planetaries with a powerful CCD with an OIII filter and fast reflector. Say with a f3.5 and a field of 2x2 deg. I guess you could do it with the DSS too but playing with scopes and cameras is funner!

[AlexN]

with a real sensitive CCD + OIII filter + Tak E180 you should have no troubles finding things in 10 min exposures...

[avandonk]

See here how I managed to hunt it down at 5 AM today! Only because of Melbourne weather!

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=37763


Yep I wish you luck witha narrow FOV it would take a life time or two .... It is far better that there is many of us amateurs!
Although I would like a Tak E180 to at least try!

Bert

[AlexN]

Indeed, the E180 would be a ripper imaging scope, especially for this kind of thing, its nice and wide at 500mm, fast at F/2.8 and above all, its a takahashi.. so you know its quality will be top notch.

[montewilson]

Well done Bert - I didn't notice your post.

[gary]

Hi Monte,

You would certainly want to avoid the areas of the sky that were scrutinized in
the relatively recent (Aug-Sep 2005 release) MASH survey (Parker et. al.)
Conducted in the H-alpha, it discovered something like 905 new or likely galactic PNe,
a 60% increase in the number previously known.

There are obviously plenty undiscovered galactic PNe out there just waiting
for those with the necessary skills to find and verify them.

Amateur observations of the new MASH objects would also be interesting.
You can find the catalog at the usual archives online. I also processed it into
three Argo Navis loadable user catalogs - differentiating those that were
true Pne from those that were likely PNe and those that were possible Pne.
See http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/argo_navis_dtc/files/User%20Catalogs%20/MASH/
(Group registration required). Though these files were meant for loading into the
Argo Navis, you will see the plain text format is relatively self-evident for human consumption, including the
all important J2000.0 RA/Dec co-ordinates. They also include survey observer's notes in the last field.

Best Regards

Gary
Mt. Kuring-Gai