[Rob_K]

Nice clear night, so set up in the backyard. Cruised all the usual suspects, and saw a few new things. Just a small selection of old & new objects described.

Time: 11:30pm-12:30am, Tues/Wed 23/24 Dec 08 (UT+11)
Location: Bright, Vic
Telescope: Tasco 4.5” f8 reflector on Alt-Az mount
EP: 21mm Celestron X-Cel
Transparency: Good, some milkiness
Seeing: Fair; still conditions

Cetus A (M77), mag 9.7 galaxy in Cetus: Easy to see as a small bright glow behind a tiny field star. Presume this is the core of the galaxy – no dimmer extension visible.

NGC 1055, mag 11.4 galaxy in Cetus: Visible as a ghost of a glow, forming a triangle with two bright stars. Also has a tiny field star over it. Better in averted vision.

NGC 1535, mag 9.6 planetary nebula in Eridanus: Visible in 21mm EP as a tiny, bright, non-stellar object, perhaps with a slight hint of pale blue. Switched to 8mm EP, and it came up as a roundish dim white blob, with ‘ragged’ edges. At times, I thought I could see a tiny central star, but the seeing was playing up a bit.

144P Kushida, mag 10 (?) comet in Aries: Clearly visible as a small dim patch of grey beside two very faint close stars. Nice to get visual on this one, which I’ve photographed a couple of times recently.

M1, Crab Nebula, mag 8.4 planetary nebula in Taurus: Moderately large, oval-shaped glow, quite even. Have had better views of this one.

NGC 2024, Flame Nebula, mag (?) nebula in Orion: Easy to see, with and without Alnitak in the FOV. Dark lanes obvious, providing contrast with surrounding faint bright-nebulosity.

Nova Carinae 2008, mag 10.5 (?) nova in Carina: Again, something I had imaged and nice to get visual on it. Quite faint, no hint of colour. In the general vicinity (a few FOVs around), there are patches of bright nebulosity and and some beautiful open clusters. NGC 3532, a large open cluster, was brilliant!

NGC 2287, open cluster in Canis Major: One of my favourite clusters, fills over half the FOV in 21mm EP, with brilliant tiny stars! Not far from Sirius.

NGC 1904, mag 7.7 globular cluster in Lepus: Large bright centrally-condensed globular, with the dim extent more easily visible in averted vision.


Cheers -