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Hi Rod,
I think the smile on Andrew's face might have been about MASH PNe (PNG 285.5-03.3 = PHR 1019-6059) -- and not the above nebula. I don't think he will keep the smile -- see below:
So Andrew saw PHR 1019-6059 in 25". Well ... we saw it in 18"! And here is the note:
46cm f/4.9 at 12.30am local time Mon morning 26012009 or 13.30hrs UTC) 25012009 at Bargo. I'd rate the seeing at about 7/10 and the SQM/L gave a reading of 21.53 equating to a ZLM of 6.40 about 1/2 hr before the observation.
The field is pretty easy to acquire about 28 arc-min NE of 3rd magnitude SAO 250905. It was very tough to see at x185 without filtration but a fairly simple object with filtration (UHC and OIII tried -- UHC seemed to give best results) as a small, perhaps 25" x 15" oval or oblong in about PA 90 of quite LSB mist with a weak central brightening and very diffuse edges, nearby and almost running parallel to closely spaced mag 11 and 13 stars. The best view was at x247 with a 9mm T1 Nagler and UHC.
The observation was confirmed by a very experienced observer Gary Mitchell of the Sutherland Astronomical Society and two out of three other relatively inexperienced observers.
Unbeknownst to us all, both Andrew and I have been beaten "to the rights" by Lynton Hemer in South Australia only the night before using Ian Bedford's 30" 'scope.
Here is his report extracted from an AMASTRO post:
"On Saturday night 24th January 09, at Blacksprings, South Australia, we
tried for this PN using Ian Bedford's 30 inch Newtonian.
With the sky somewhere between Antoniadi I & II, & transparency steadily
improving as the night wore on, we tried for the object at around 2am, when the viewing was near its best for the night.
Using the given coordinates, we confirmed the field with a DSS printout,
& saw nothing obvious at 120x straight through. OIII showed a very faint smudge at 120X, but when Ian applied 480x it immediately revealed itself as a hazy patch,sitting fairly close to the adjacent stars.
At 480x with OIII, it was easily seen by Lynton Hemer & Alan Brinkworth
as a fairly even hazy patch around 35 arcminutes x 20 arcminutes, extending in a gentle curve away from the nearby stars. Its length & shape was difficult to tie down because of several faint field stars, which appeared occasionally inside, or next to the nebulous" area.
Ian Bedford's more senior eyes gave him less confidence estimating the
size of the patch, but the object was quite obvious & remained in view even as the seeing varied.
We would feel confident that others with smaller apertures may be able
to see this PN in reasonable conditions."
Personally, I think 16" will do this and maybe even 14 or a very, very sharp 12" in perfect conditions -- amazing it was only a recent discovery."
Wow, this PNe had quite a busy weekend -- didn't it!!
Best,
Les D
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