70mm refractor - Misc. Tour around Puppis Region

[Coen]

27/28 December 2008 local time +10.5 to UT

Telescope is 70mm Skywatcher with the 25mm Plossl, 25mm basic, 15mm GSO, 10mm basic and 6mm Plossl.

If unspecified the eyepiece is 60x 15mm GSO.

Using the Tri-Atlas Hybrid, did a random tour around Puppis and strolling into other constellations; abandoned viewing Columba due to seeing (double stars) and its altitude causing a level of bumping into the tripod.

Xi Puppis
Located in a lovely star field, nice to view.

M93 (2350)
Nice open cluster fills the centre of the 60x with many faint 9th or so magnitude stars. Nice enough.

NGC 2360 (2400) [I think it is, confirmed later]
Open cluster, looks like an insect with chains of stars going to the edges of the 60x FOV. 9th-10th magnitudes with bright star to one side. Overall a striking group and pretty.

STF 1057 (BU 575)
Wide double star with magnitude difference makes secondary a bit tough & leads cluster into FOV, PA close to 0 degrees.
Documented: Magnitudes 7.2 & 9.0 at 16" PA 2 degrees (STF 1057) and BU 575 is the 7.2 main which is actually 8.3 & 7.9 at 0.5"

M47
Loose bright sparse open cluster with equal white double in the middle of it, estimate 8 to 10" split is it HJ 5470/STF 1121? It is STF 1121 which is actually a many multiple star with two components being fairly equal at magnitudes 7.0 & 7.3 separated by 7.4". Rest of components are associated with the cluster and scattered around the star. HJ 5470 it seems is another fainter pair also located within the cluster (magnitudes 9.0 & 10.0 separated by 6").

M46
Loose faint, very large open cluster with some 'bright' stars the rest down to 11th magnitude or fainter, sense of being unresolved components providing a background glow to the resolved members.

STF 1138
Nice equal double around 20" with bright star not far away. Actually a triple with a faint 10.4 magnitude star nearby. Located not far from M46
Documented: Magnitudes 6.0 & 6.7 at 16.9", third is 10.4 at 100"

NGC 2423
Open cluster, faint, extends from M47, not much to look at with hints of fainter stars and unresolved background glow.

NGC 2374
As with NGC 2423, unresolved background glow with some faint resolved stars.

NGC 2396 (0025)
Faint open cluster, more stars seen with averted, small and has double star near/off the edge (north).

BU 332 (near NGC 2396)
Sizeable magnitude difference with pale yellow and murky green. Needs a revisit.
Documented: Actually a multiple star with 5 components, also catalogued as STF 1097
AD Magnitudes 6.0 & 9.5 at 22.8"; AC (STF 1097) 6.0 & 8.5 at 19.8"

M50 (0035)
Nice open cluster that has somewhat of a heart shape, stars at 8th magnitude or greater, attractive area.

Viewing abandoned due to cloud.

[ngcles]

Hi Coen,

A very good read thanks for posting your observations.

Yep M93 is not a bad object and actually looks better in 70-150mm telescpes than larger ones -- I reckon. The field is quite rich and it doesn't detach well in large apertures. Larger apertures do show colour in a couple of the stars -- there are a couple of yellow/orange ones (I think they are the brightest two in the cluster from memory) nr the SE edges about mag 8.

Good to see you noted the heart-shape in M50 --again I think more evident in small-medium 'scopes than larger ones.

Here is a couple of old observations of mine of the two of the doubles you noted:

25011999 STF 1138 25cm

x86 34' TF. Mags 6.1 6.8 Sep 16.8". PA 339. A lovely pair a bit like Alpha Cen except are a little lighter in hue (and obviously a lot dimmer!). Light yellow, set in the midst of a moderate milky way field. Mags contrast of 2/10th mag in PA 335 sep by about 20" like Alpha Cen. To the NE by 12' is a mag 4 slightly deeper yellow *.

19021999 BU 332 25cm

x363 9' TF. Mags 5.9 9.5 Sep 23.2" PA 157. lovely **, only bare suspicion of ** at x181. Momentarily split at x276, no probs at x363. Flanked by 2 mag 10.5 *s in PA 160 and PA 315 about 40" distant. ** is quite tight, about 1.5 mags difference, both yellowish in PA 160, very tight, about 0.8-0.9". Very pretty.

Again, good to hear about what you are observing -- quite professional-looking notes -- well done!


Best,

Les D

[Smirnoff]

Nice report :thumbsup:

I find the contrast between M46 and M47 quite interesting, perfect display of the different profiles that open clusters can have.

[Coen]

Thanks for the comments and the extra notes on the double stars.

I like my little 70mm and while I do have a case of aperture fever, there is a lot that can be seen and enjoyed with a small scope, half reasonable eyepieces and good optics. One does not need to spend mega $ to enjoy fascinating sights and a personal pet annoyance is the sense that you get sometimes that people think you need to spend a minimum of $500 (or some other number around that or higher) before you get something sensible. Sure more $ gives more but does not mean smaller $ still can not give enjoyment etc or that you can not do something of value with modest equipment.