The first, fresh Obs. Challenge for the year, and this time, I want to see PAIN!
I wouldn't say this month's targets are difficult, but they are very detailed in structure, and demand time at the eyepiece, .
I've included targets that go from naked eye, through to larger scopes, to bring out the faintest of details.
Naked Eye
Summer's sky has some of the most ancient of the constellations. This particular group of constellations, though, form together one of the most complete "pictures" that relates one constellation to another directly in western mythology.
The Orion group: Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, Canis Minor & Lepus
Orion the Hunter, represents hope and rebirth as it is a winter constellation in the northern hemisphere. Hope as the Hunter looks towards the rising sun to regain his sight after being blinded by Scorpio (thier being in opposite ends of the sky is no coincidence in Greek mythology). Rebirth as his apparition in the sky signifyies that spring is not far away.
Orion's blinding was made more onerous by having to defend himself, blind, from Taurus the Bull, whose red eye, Aldebaren, stares at the hunter wielding a club in one hand and holding out a lion skin in the other that he kept over his sholders to keep him warm (remember, it is winter up north).
By Orion's side are his two trusted dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor. Canis Major contains The Dog Star, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It marks the collar of the big dog. Canis Major is standing guard next to Lepus the Rabbit, his master's dinner.
Canis Minor also has a collar star, Procyon, also one of the brightest stars of the sky. He is looking away from his master, protecting him from Hydra, the Snake.
The first picture shows an interpretation of the constellations, showing the above grouping.
Binos & Scopes
M1, the Crab Nebula, in Taurus. This is a supernova remnant, in other words, the stuff left over after a giant star explodes. The "explosion" of this star was noted by Chinese astronomers in July 4, 1054, and could be seen during the day for 23 days. This is actually a small & dim object in the sky, though photos may suggest other wise. Today it is dimmer than when Sir Charles Messier first reported it. So-much-so, that I don't think Messier would be able to see it through his intruments today. Being small and dim, it can be a challenge to spot the faint smokey patch. I've been able to see it from my home in Sydney through an 8" scope. Larger amateur scopes can begin to show its filaments, and anyscope over 16" will show its 16th magnitude pulsar (the remnant core of this exploded star). It is not a showy object. Actually, quite unremarkable. Size in aperture is the key to seeing structure.
NGC 2244, the Rosette Nebula, in Monoceros. This is a large nebula with an associated open star cluster. But, here is the kicker, it is very faint. The best way to view it is through binocular, and the bigger the binos, the better, or through a Rich-Field-Telescope which is defined as f/4.5 or faster. One tip with seeing this faint nebula, if the cluster it surrounds nearly fills your field of view, you won't see the nebula. It totally encapsulates the cluster. The NASA picture of the red Rosette Nebula, shows the large open cluster at its core, to help give a sense of scale.
The Cone Nebla, in Monoceros. This is a dark pillar of nebulosity that is associated with the open cluster NGC 2264, the Christmas Tree cluster. This one is a challenge for larger scopes, 16" or larger. Dark pillars are concentrations of gas and dust that have formed around protstars, feeding the still to ignite star the material it needs to bring about stars and their solar systems. The famous "Fish Mouth" of the Great Orion nebula, is also a dark pillar. The third picture, from NASA, shows the Cone plus the Christmas Tree cluster.
NGC 1291, the Southern Ring Galaxy, in Eriandus. Here we have a relatively bright galaxy, but with a very wierd structure. Its structure is thought to be the result of two galaxies having collided a long, long time ago. The internal "core" seems to the the remnant of the larger of the two colliding galaxies, it showing some details that resemble a barred galaxy. Around this "core" seems to be a void, which inturn is surrounded by one long sweeping "arm" that totally encompasses the "core". A dark site in a scope over 8" should begin to show this unusal galactic structure. The wikipedia image shows these features.
M 79, in Lepus. This is a large globular cluster, but it is faint for its size. This is due to interstellar dust that lies between us and the cluster. An 8" scope will begin to resolve some of its stars. It doesn't seem to be as tight in its nature as some other globulars, and its appearance is overal slightly ovoid.
Any other suggestions for the Challenge?
Glenc has update the thread on the Dunlop Objects for February. NGC 1291 was first discovered by James Dunlop.
Feel like sketching any of these targets, but don't know where to start? Have a look at this article I've submitted on sketching DSO's. It is very easy to do:
The Cone nebula is an interesting one, it's meant to be extremely difficult, moreso than the horsehead but i could swear I saw a report in a recent S&T of it being spotted in a 4" scope.
Yes the Cone Nebula is an extremely difficult target. Somewhat to much worse than the Horsehead (IC434 & B33). On one occasion only, in virtually perfect conditions up at Mudgee in the 46cm, I'm pretty certain I saw one "edge" of the cone nr the star at the tip of the cone and possibly the other edge too. There is no "nebulosity" really to be seen. It is an edge between complete darkness and almost complete darkness. Not for the faint of heart.
I cannot understate the difficulty of this object. I spent the best part of 20 minutes at the ep before I could feel "pretty definite" about one of those edges. By comparison, the observation the other night of the Z CMa jet, once I was certain I had the correct field and correct star and worked out the field orientation, it took at most 5-10 seconds at x247 before I blurted out excitedly "I can see it !!!!!).
A H-Beta filter may help, but I seem to remember that nearly all the emission is H-Alpha, which explains why it images relatively easily even with short exposures (CCDs are much more sensitive to red than the eye) and that the OIII emission is pretty low too. Don't quote me on that one, I'm going on recollection -- I seem to remember reading a paper on it about 5 years ago that made a comment on the strength of various emission lines in the Cone Nebula and that stuck -- but I can't find the reference now.
Keep an open mind and have a go by all means (don't let me discourage anyone) but don't be disappointed if you end up with a negative. In perfect conditions, I'd say the minimum aperture is 46cm or thereabouts.
I have had the same experience - last new moon I went for this one after getting the best view yet of the horsehead. An H beta definitely helps, but the key thing is that the cone is a lot further south of the Christmas tree cluster than you might think. Even with an H beta it was not easy through a 25" f5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ngcles
Hi All,
Yes the Cone Nebula is an extremely difficult target. Somewhat to much worse than the Horsehead (IC434 & B33). On one occasion only, in virtually perfect conditions up at Mudgee in the 46cm, I'm pretty certain I saw one "edge" of the cone nr the star at the tip of the cone and possibly the other edge too. There is no "nebulosity" really to be seen. It is an edge between complete darkness and almost complete darkness. Not for the faint of heart.
I cannot understate the difficulty of this object. I spent the best part of 20 minutes at the ep before I could feel "pretty definite" about one of those edges. By comparison, the observation the other night of the Z CMa jet, once I was certain I had the correct field and correct star and worked out the field orientation, it took at most 5-10 seconds at x247 before I blurted out excitedly "I can see it !!!!!).
A H-Beta filter may help, but I seem to remember that nearly all the emission is H-Alpha, which explains why it images relatively easily even with short exposures (CCDs are much more sensitive to red than the eye) and that the OIII emission is pretty low too. Don't quote me on that one, I'm going on recollection -- I seem to remember reading a paper on it about 5 years ago that made a comment on the strength of various emission lines in the Cone Nebula and that stuck -- but I can't find the reference now.
Keep an open mind and have a go by all means (don't let me discourage anyone) but don't be disappointed if you end up with a negative. In perfect conditions, I'd say the minimum aperture is 46cm or thereabouts.
Hi Mental
Thanks again for the list
I observed 1291 back in October on a rare clear night at that time of year. My notes indicate that I saw it as resembling a globular at low power with a quite bright core and surrounding nebulosity.
Can I make a suggestion for a challenge object. NGC2818 in Pyxis is easy to find at the moment. This is a Planetary Neb apparently superimposed on an Open Cluster. Both bear the NGC 2818 designation, although a couple of sources I read have named the OC NGC 2818A and others list the PN and NGC 2818 and the OC as unnamed! Uranometria gives the dual classification. This is similar to M46 with NGC 2438 in the field. The PN is more interesting as it is a bit larger and elongated in shape and I would be interested to hear comparisons with M46 and if any of the PNs structure is vis in larger scopes.
AAO pic is here http://www.aao.gov.au/images/captions/aat080.html
Hubble pic is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NG..._Telescope.jpg
Filters? Go with what you've got and see what happens. It will make good reading what you're able to gain from the filters you have,
But, like I said: "PAIN!" Lots of it!
Malcom, brilliant suggestion NGC 2818. I managed this one from home last Saturday. Its glow is eerie. One of my favourite planetaries. The cluster/planetary double whammie of M46 is stunning too. All these lovely stars, and then there is this puddle. Really nice juxterposition.
i had a crack at ngc 1291 tonight (my sky safari on iphone calls it 1269 & 1291 -in the info wondow, very weird)
to navigate to it i found achernar first -then traced along eridanus till i found acamar -the brighest star in the middle of eridanus (and it forms a little triangle )-i traced up to e ERI -i new i had to move almost due W, about 3 deg -which is the fov roughly of my 16x60 pentax pcf
light pollution was fairly bad tonight in the S which is a little unusual ( i am 60km N of Melb in kilmore). the galaxy was a very difficult get -i had to use averted vision, the small fuzzy patch revealed itself once my eyes adpated. it was very hit & miss -sometimes i scanned & could make it out, other times i could not detect it -it was right at the limit..perhaps 20x80 would be the go
the mossies were very annoying -as was the point our AC is broken
Had a go tonight - not Feb but you take what you get!
Skies pretty good but a touch milky. Big sky glow dome over the town in the west - didn't interfere with viewing but indicative of lots of stuff in the atmosphere. 4.5" f8 reflector.
M1 - fairly ordinary tonight, a fuzzy, elongated, reasonably bright glow, no detail or real shape (43x). 113x was too much, large and very very dim - rarely worth changing from 21mm EP in this scope for deep sky, but a few objects do stand up (eg M27).
NGC 2244 - Easy naked eye as a faint tiny glow, nice bright sparse cluster at 43x, but battling to see any nebulosity. At 23x (40mm EP), nebulosity in an arc to the NE of the cluster was easily visible, contained by darker bands further NE again. Some hints of nebulosity around the rest, impression is of a large faint object centred roughly on the cluster and occupying about two-thirds of the field or more (FOV over 2 deg).
Had a brief look at NGC 2264. Common names gone mad, Christmas Tree Cluster, Cone Nebula, Fox Fur Nebula, Snowflake Nebula... Anyway, nothing startling in the field, the cluster (if I saw it) is either a very small one that has a background glow superimposed by a couple of bright stars and one very bright one (and looks nothing like a Christmas Tree or any other kind of tree for that matter), or some sparser arrangement of brighter stars (that also don't look like trees). Can't be bothered finding out, the names turn me off (= Mr Grumpy! ). Field was quite mottled to the north, good luck to all those who are going for "the other part of NGC 2264"!
NGC 1904 (M79) is a great globular cluster even in a small scope, bright and very centrally condensed. It responds well to averted vision, bringing the dim outer areas into view - tonight wasn't the perfect night for viewing it but it still didn't disappoint.
Had a look at NGC 1291, quite bright and instantly visible as I panned through the field at 43x. Bright core, and outer areas that responded to averted vision. Oval shaped with surrounding fainter areas extending to a small star to its approx north. No trace of outer ring. 113x killed it.
Might try the Pyxis cluster another night.
EDIT: Well, it's Feb by the time I got the post up!
NGC 2261 is near NGC 2264 and much easier to see than the Cone nebula. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap991020.html
The bluish nebula in NGC 2264 is the brightest part.
Daniel, John Herschel gave two different positions and hence we have two NGC numbers for the galaxy 1269 & 1291.
See the historical notes regarding NGC 1269 and 1291 in the following. http://www.ngcicproject.org/dss/dss_n1200.asp
"NGC 1269 = NGC 1291. Though JH claims to have seen them on the same night (1
November 1836), I think that he has some mistake in his records. His data and
description for NGC 1269 are identical to those for NGC 1291 on that night
with two exceptions. First, the RAs differ by 2 minutes 34 seconds; and
second, he adds a diameter to his description of N1291 (90 arcsec), while
N1269 has none. Otherwise, the data are the same: NPDs 131d 43m 11s, and
descriptions "vB, R, gmbM (hazy)."
He has two observations of N1291 (on the second night, he called it a
"mottled, but not resolved" globular cluster). His RAs for the two nights
differ by 10 seconds, and he suggests that one is in error. Not knowing which
one, he simply took the mean value and used that for GC. The galaxy is so
large that both positions fall within the image." Dr. Harold G. Corwin, Jr.
Another quick thought for another challenge object. NGC 2158 in Gemini. It's the faint little open clutser just to the side of M35. It's an eerie little glow and quite a fun find when you get it.
Just a thought!
Interesting challenge list as usual Alex. I've been away from scope and computer for a bit and now I'm back home it's pretty solid cloud - but fingers crossed...
Had a go tonight - not Feb but you take what you get!
Skies pretty good but a touch milky. Big sky glow dome over the town in the west - didn't interfere with viewing but indicative of lots of stuff in the atmosphere. 4.5" f8 reflector.
M1 - fairly ordinary tonight, a fuzzy, elongated, reasonably bright glow, no detail or real shape (43x). 113x was too much, large and very very dim - rarely worth changing from 21mm EP in this scope for deep sky, but a few objects do stand up (eg M27).
NGC 2244 - Easy naked eye as a faint tiny glow, nice bright sparse cluster at 43x, but battling to see any nebulosity. At 23x (40mm EP), nebulosity in an arc to the NE of the cluster was easily visible, contained by darker bands further NE again. Some hints of nebulosity around the rest, impression is of a large faint object centred roughly on the cluster and occupying about two-thirds of the field or more (FOV over 2 deg).
Had a brief look at NGC 2264. Common names gone mad, Christmas Tree Cluster, Cone Nebula, Fox Fur Nebula, Snowflake Nebula... Anyway, nothing startling in the field, the cluster (if I saw it) is either a very small one that has a background glow superimposed by a couple of bright stars and one very bright one (and looks nothing like a Christmas Tree or any other kind of tree for that matter), or some sparser arrangement of brighter stars (that also don't look like trees). Can't be bothered finding out, the names turn me off (= Mr Grumpy! ). Field was quite mottled to the north, good luck to all those who are going for "the other part of NGC 2264"!
NGC 1904 (M79) is a great globular cluster even in a small scope, bright and very centrally condensed. It responds well to averted vision, bringing the dim outer areas into view - tonight wasn't the perfect night for viewing it but it still didn't disappoint.
Had a look at NGC 1291, quite bright and instantly visible as I panned through the field at 43x. Bright core, and outer areas that responded to averted vision. Oval shaped with surrounding fainter areas extending to a small star to its approx north. No trace of outer ring. 113x killed it.
Might try the Pyxis cluster another night.
EDIT: Well, it's Feb by the time I got the post up!
Cheers -
That was a terrific Report, Rob - many thanks for sharing it.
Great Report Rob. I have to say, in my eyepiece, the Christmas tree cluster looks identical to a real Christmas tree
Sorry pgc, won't have it on unless you can identify the species.
Looks like one L S Copeland is to blame - a quick Google and it seems that he gave a name to just about everything that passed through his field of view. No doubt Les would have his picture up on his dartboard!
Sorry pgc, won't have it on unless you can identify the species.
Looks like one L S Copeland is to blame - a quick Google and it seems that he gave a name to just about everything that passed through his field of view. No doubt Les would have his picture up on his dartboard!
Cheers -
Well, yes and no Rob, I find Leland Copeland a little easier to forgive as he was the first contributing editor to S&T to write a deep sky column and perhaps the very first ever populariser of Deep Sky observing. He wrote Deep Sky Wonders even before Walter Scott Houston immortalised the column. He coined quite a few names for deep sky objects but I don't think any of it was done out of a desire to immortalise himself.
My biggest beef with so-called "common-names" is just that -- people trying to gain some sort of immortality for themselves as the inventor or this that or the other clever name -- particularly on what are often pretty non-descript objects (I guess all nearly all the really good ones are already named).
That and citing a "common-name" without an official designation. I use common names all the time -- but to avoid any possibility of confusion or ambiguity, I always add a designation from the most common catalogue it's found in. For example there are no less than four "Whirlpool Galaxies" and three "Pinwheel Galaxies".
Culture specific common names also grate a bit too ...
Had a wonderful clear night last night with good seeing and got to have a go at some of the challenge objects. A report to follow. But one thing I particularly liked was Alex's description of the events unfolding around Orion and the parts played by the different characters. I have heard some of this, but a lot was new and it was great to just look at the constellations and see how it worked - especially the Small Dog keeping an eye on the snake.
I finally had my first dark sky session in many a month. Saddly, it was also on the same day that Sydney had its hottest day (42 deg), on the tail end of its longest heat wave. The dark site's sky was alive with haze and rolling high clouds that made for a frustrating night's viewing.
Played "now you see me, now you don't" all night long.
Still, those moments of clarity were lovelly. No sketches this time, but the memories were stunning.
The biggest kick was seeing the Rosette Nebula. Using my 17.5", its associated cluster just about fills the FOV of my 30mm, 2" 64° eyepiece. As I only have a 1.25" OIII filter, I trained my filtered RKE 28mm on the Rosette. WOW! Finally I could see the oh-so-faint nebulosity! It is very mottled, with a distinct circular shape that totally surrounds the cluster.
Its edges are very jagged, showing hints of dark pillars.
I'm hoping to get better views of the remaining targets soon.
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Anyway, nothing startling in the field, the cluster (if I saw it) is either a very small one that has a background glow superimposed by a couple of bright stars and one very bright one (and looks nothing like a Christmas Tree or any other kind of tree for that matter), or some sparser arrangement of brighter stars (that also don't look like trees). Can't be bothered finding out, the names turn me off (= Mr Grumpy! 
). Field was quite mottled to the north, good luck to all those who are going for "the other part of NGC 2264"! 
