Observing Report 26/01/11

[astroron (Ron)]

A report I did last month as part of my 5000th post,but have been to lazy transcribe from the recorder, but with the insistence of a certain person I have finally done it.
Observing Report 25/01/11 20.58 AEST,10.58 UT

It is a beautiful night seeing 8-10 transparancy 8-10 Dry tem 25deg C

First Object observed with the refurbished 16" mirror,
NGC 2070, the Tarantulla Nebula in the LMC.
The cluster in the center was so crisp and bright and the stars
pinpoints.
The nebulosity was something to marvel at Wow.
13mm Nagler,no filters used.

21.01
NGC 3372 Eta Carina, even though low down was beautiful,
will return to this later.

21,03
NGC 104 47TUC also low down but was as usual a fine sight
with the gap in the core quite prominent.
Fills the field of view of the 13mm Nagler.

21.05

Left it a bit late at Jupiter as it was low down in the West
had a look anyway but it was just a bright mush.

21.07
NGC 1976(M42) Orion Nebula
The nebula was just about on the Meridian and prime position
for observing.
All 6 stars in the Trapezium where observed and also some stars deep in the nebula.
Some subtle pinky colour was seen but not as much as I have seen in the past.
13mm Nagler and 6mm Radian.

21.13
NGC 3132 Eight burst Planetary Nebula in Vela,
My favourite Southern planetary Nebula.
This PN takes magnification so well
the 9.6 mag central star was very prominent
No Filters used 13mm Nagler.

21.19
NGC 2437 (M46)+NGC 2438 PN
Tightly packed open cluster with the bluish pn NGC2438
over to one corner of the cluster.
Central star was seen in the pn with the 13 mm Nagler the best view
of the whole cluster was had with the 21 mm TV Plossl.

21.23
time to look at my favourite objects galaxies.
NGC 1365 spiral galaxy in Fornax.
Both spiral arms plainly seen and stars to 13.5 mag observed in both arms.
The core seems as if it is split but this is just the dust lane across it.
13MM Nagler and 9mm Tmb.

21.26
NGC 1300 galaxy in Eridanus
Face on spiral with 12-13 mag star close to the nuculus
Fairly low down as I had left it a bit late to look at some of these galaxies.

21.33
NGC 1068 galaxy in Cetus, Face on spiral with a bright star close to the nuculeus

21.37
NGC 1097 GALAXY IN Fornax, face on spiral,NGC 1097 is a small dense spot in the
brightest spiral arm, this is a small interacting galaxy.
This galaxy seems to be stretched north west to south east and is quite bright.

21.42
NGC 1087/1090 spiral galaxies in Cetus
Ngc 1087 is the brightest of the two has bright nuculeus spiral arm only seen as
a not quite round haze, NGC 1090 was seen as a faint haze with just a hint of mottling

21.48
NGC 1313 galaxy in Reticulum
this galaxy seems like an irregular galaxy to me with no shape
has the name the Inkblot? Stars down to 14.5 mag seen.
Seems to be some extension to the west, but could not see much detail in this galaxy.
13mm Nagler

21.57
NGC 1316/1317 Two spiral galaxies in Fornax.
These galaxies are separated by about ten arc minutes
NGC 1316 has a bright nuculeus and faint halo for the spiral arms
NGC 13 17 is quite star like but still is easily seen as a galaxy.

22.03
Ngc 1326/1326A stars seen to 14.2 faint elongated streak seen as if in two parts but hard to tell.
13mm nagler

22.07
NGC 1332 edge on spiral very bright nuculeus stars to 13.6 seen to the south.

22.09
NGC1325/A faint round galaxy,with about a mag 10 star to the south not much detail.

22.17
NGC 1365,observed again this time the southern pointing arm clearer,stars down to 13.6 seen
No Supernova candidate stars seen.
This galaxy has had a couple of Supernovae in the last ten years or so,it is always a good idea
to give this galaxy the once over for supernova.

22,23
Three galaxies in the field NGC 1381,NGC 1387,NGC 1379. galaxies in Fornax, part of the Fornax cluster
NGC 1381 is a Small edge spiral and the other two look like elliptical galaxies.

22.26
The sky is brightening so the moon is due up soon.
NGC 1380 spiral galaxy in fornax, bright nuculeus galaxy seems elongated north to south.

22.29
NGC 1398 face on spiral very bright nucleus, spiral arms diffuse but would probably be much brighter
but the sky is much brighter now due to the moon rising.
Last of the galaxies.

22,30
NGC 3372 Eta Carina Star and Nebula.
I was waxing lyrical to myself at the amazing detail of the Homonculus,just Stunning
But the Southern lobe seemed fainter than I had seen it before,
could have been overwhelmed by the brightness of the star.
the Jets that sort of make up the arms of the (little man) Homonculus could be seen.
The Eta Carina star was the brightest I have ever seen in a telescope, Normally it
Seems to be not quite star like but soft to fuzzy, but this night it was incredibly sharp
Brilliant!
The eyepiece used 6mm Radian plus 9mm TMB which also gave fantastic views.

The second half of this report was published on the 26/01/11
as the Saturn report
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=71115
All in all a greats nights observing with my newly refurbished mirror

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Some really nice obs there Ron. Lovely description of NGC 1365. I also find NGC 1313 quite interesting to observe and try to pull some shape out of. Lots of good galaxy obs - shame there were no supernovae!

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Nice report Ron
Interesting again the brightness of Eta Carina. IMHO it has definitely brightened a bit in the past 2 years. NGC 1313 is a chllenge, nice and big but so hard to see detail.

Malcolm

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by astroron

A report I did last month as part of my 5000th post,but have been to lazy transcribe from the recorder, but with the insistence of a certain person I have finally done it.
Observing Report 25/01/11 20.58 AEST,10.58 UT

Originally Posted by astroron

21.01
NGC 3272 Eta Carina, even though low down was beautiful,
will return to this later.

21,03
NGC 104 47 also low down but was as usual a fine sight
with the gap in the core quite prominent.
Fills the field of view of the 13mm Nagler.

Correction: NGC 3372
Correction: Tuc after 47.
A rare moment of correction for which I will bask in the glory of.

Fantastic report Ron.
I particularly enjoyed the journey you took me on observing all those many galaxies. Oh to have your scope and dark skies.
I'm interested to know what your magnification is with the use of your 13mm brick, I mean, Nagler. Glad to see that you are keeping your eyes on that supernova known galaxy- wouldn't it be fabulous if one day a visual observer and not an imager nabbed one of those!

And out of curiousity, what is about the Eight Burst Nebula that makes it a favourite p.n of yours? (I have a feeling it will have something to do with what a dark sky and 16" can produce )

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Correction: NGC 3372
Correction: Tuc after 47.
A rare moment of correction for which I will bask in the glory of.

Fantastic report Ron.
I particularly enjoyed the journey you took me on observing all those many galaxies. Oh to have your scope and dark skies.
I'm interested to know what your magnification is with the use of your 13mm brick, I mean, Nagler. Glad to see that you are keeping your eyes on that supernova known galaxy- wouldn't it be fabulous if one day a visual observer and not an imager nabbed one of those!

And out of curiousity, what is about the Eight Burst Nebula that makes it a favourite p.n of yours? (I have a feeling it will have something to do with what a dark sky and 16" can produce )

Thank you Suzy for pointing out my errors
I am glad you enjoyed the report
My Brick 13mm Nagler give 140x magnification
The Eight Burst Nebula in a 16" scope on a Dark Crystal clear night sky with high mag is a great sight and yes you answered your own question correctly
The two Supernovas in NGC 1365 where discovered Visually by the Rev Bob Evans, who has discovered or co discovered over forty supernova's through the eyepiece, but it has been quite a few years since his last one
Most are now found by well equiped amateurs using Telescopes with CCD cameras or Professional search programs, so it is nearly impossible to find one now visually, but we keep on trying
Cheers

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by astroron

The Eight Burst Nebula in a 16" scope on a Dark Crystal clear night sky with high mag is a great sight and yes you answered your own question correctly

Thanks for responding, but "great sight" doesn't tell me much. I want to know what the "great sight" is. Can you explain with some details as to what you see, please? I'll be very grateful, thank you (apologies for being pushy).

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

You did have a great night Ron.
So...is Eta Carina brightening because the dust cloud is moving out of the way? Or is it physically brightening?

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

You did have a great night Ron.
So...is Eta Carina brightening because the dust cloud is moving out of the way? Or is it physically brightening?

The star is indeed brightening.

HST/STIS observations confirm this. The possibility of a binary star, combined with the outbursts makes it a complex star to study.
However, with spectroscopy equipment we have the technology these days to penetrate the gas and take measurements of it’s brightness variations.

More information available here http://etacar.umn.edu/etainfo/history/

It is important to realize that the groundbased magnitudes shown since the great eruption refer to the integrated light over the nebula and not the central star. So why did it brighten so quickly? Most astronomers assume that the rapid brightening was caused by the destruction of dust. That may be correct, but why were at least two magnitudes of circumstellar extinction by dust removed so quickly? During the past 50 years the Homunculus has continued to brighten much more slowly possibly due to expansion of the nebula with small oscillations observed in both the visible and near-infrared until very recently when HST/STIS observations showed that the central star itself brightened significantly between 1997 and 2001 and is continuing to brighten after its recent (2003.5) "event" (Figure 4, below).

http:////en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae
From Wiki

Brightness variations

One remarkable aspect of Eta Carinae is its changing brightness. It is currently classified as a luminous blue variable (LBV) binary star due to peculiarities in its pattern of brightening and dimming.
When Eta Carinae was first catalogued in 1677 by Edmond Halley, it was of the 4th magnitude, but by 1730, observers noticed it had brightened considerably and was, at that point, one of the brightest stars in Carina. Subsequently it dimmed again and by 1782 it appeared to have reverted to its former obscurity. In 1820, it was observed growing in brightness again. By 1827, it had brightened more than tenfold and reached its greatest apparent brightness in April 1843. With a magnitude of −0.8, it was the second brightest star in the night-time sky (after Sirius at 8.6 light years away), despite its enormous distance of 7,000–8,000 light-years. (To put the relationship in perspective, the relative brightness would be like comparing a candle (representing Sirius) at 14.5 meters (48 feet) to another light source (Eta Carinae) about 10 kilometers (6 mi) away, which would appear almost as bright as the candle.)
Eta Carinae sometimes has large outbursts, the last of which appeared in 1841, at around the time of its maximum brightness. The reason for these outbursts is not yet known. The most likely possibility is believed to be that they are caused by built-up radiation pressure from the star's enormous luminosity. After 1843, Eta Carinae's appearance faded away and between about 1900 and 1940 it was only of the 8th magnitude, invisible to the naked eye.[16] Eta Carinae's sudden and unexpected doubled brightness was seen in 1998–1999. In 2007, its light could easily be seen with the naked eye at brighter than magnitude 5.[2]
In 2008, the formerly clockwork regularity of the dimming was upset.[17] Following its 5.52-year cycle, the star would normally have started its next dimming appearance in January 2009, but the pattern was noticed starting early in July 2008 by the southern Gemini Observatory in La Serena, Chile. Spectrographic measurements showed an increase in blue light from superheated helium, which was formerly assumed to occur with the wind shock. However, if the cause is a binary star, it would be located too far away at this point in time for the wind to interact in so significant a fashion. There is some debate about the cause of the recent event.[17]
In 2010, Duane Hamacher and David Frew from Macquarie University in Sydney showed that the Boorong Aboriginal people of northwestern Victoria, Australia witnessed the outburst of Eta Carinae in the 1840s and incorporated it into their oral traditions as Collowgulloric War, the wife of War (the Crow, pronounced "Waah", denoted by the star Canopus)[18]. This is the only definitive indigenous record of Eta Carinae's outburst identified in the literature to date.

Since 1990 it has been on a steady increase, and then in 1999 had a sudden spike. In 2009 there was yet another sudden spike. It is actually the brightest now - sitting at a v.mag of 4.47, current as of February 2011 - than even during the second outburst in 1890, Though the extent of the brightness of the 1890 outburst was hidden by the gas of the previous 1840 outburst.

A current chart can be seen here. http://etacar.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/ This chart is current as of February 11, 2011.
If you keep scrolling down past the charts, you will come across one more chart detailing the historic brightening going back to 1820 (that one's a goodie).

We also discussed this on the forum early last year when some of us (myself included) had noticed that it had gotten noticeably brighter. www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=60184

I apologise for my lack of science "lingo" talk and that it's very simple, (at least it's easy to understand ), as I am not an astronomer, but a mere person with special interest in this star. Hope the info helps anyway- I went digging through my Eta Carina Scrapbook which I made, to find all the links & info. It was good to re-visit all this information again.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

The star is indeed brightening.

HST/STIS observations confirm this. The possibility of a binary star, combined with the outbursts makes it a complex star to study.
However, with spectroscopy equipment we have the technology these days to penetrate the gas and take measurements of it’s brightness variations.

More information available here http://etacar.umn.edu/etainfo/history/

http:////en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae
From Wiki Since 1990 it has been on a steady increase, and then in 1999 had a sudden spike. In 2009 there was yet another sudden spike. It is actually the brightest now - sitting at a v.mag of 4.47, current as of February 2011 - than even during the second outburst in 1890, Though the extent of the brightness of the 1890 outburst was hidden by the gas of the previous 1840 outburst.

A current chart can be seen here. http://etacar.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/ This chart is current as of February 11, 2011.
If you keep scrolling down past the charts, you will come across one more chart detailing the historic brightening going back to 1820 (that one's a goodie).

We also discussed this on the forum early last year when some of us (myself included) had noticed that it had gotten noticeably brighter. www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=60184

I apologise for my lack of science "lingo" talk and that it's very simple, (at least it's easy to understand ), as I am not an astronomer, but a mere person with special interest in this star. Hope the info helps anyway- I went digging through my Eta Carina Scrapbook which I made, to find all the links & info. It was good to re-visit all this information again.

Thanks Suzy, "The Little lady old from Eta Carina" (sung to the tune of little old lady from Passadena)
I had seen all that Info but was looking for some more upto date information as say the last couple of months but couldn't find any
My own opinion was that my observations where the result of refurbished mirror and great seeing
But as you say this star is a variable and can go through phases very quickly.
Cheers

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Thanks for responding, but "great sight" doesn't tell me much. I want to know what the "great sight" is. Can you explain with some details as to what you see, please? I'll be very grateful, thank you (apologies for being pushy).

Here's one version (mine) of what a 16" and dark skies show in the Eight Burst nebula:

"250x Always a beautiful sight – bright central star with surrounding nebula elongated roughly N-S. A dark band around central star and wide halo around this. The dark ring appears slightly notchy. OIII filter shows dark ring more clearly, much darker on the northern end of the nebula. 350x with no filter - again darker at the northern end of the nebula."

I would suspect that if you use your 10" scope under dark skies, you would still be able to see a fair bit of this over time.

[Suzy]

Thanks Paddy.
My scope showed an orange tinge to the outer ring - is this normal or the product of using the OIII filter? I saw a picture of it after I observed, and the picture shows a clear orange ring, but not sure if I should be seeing that sort of colour through a scope (unless it was caused by filtering). I saw no detail within the black, though this was observed in suburbia. Just wanting to make sure what I got is what I got.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Thanks Paddy.
My scope showed an orange tinge to the outer ring - is this normal or the product of using the OIII filter? I saw a picture of it after I observed, and the picture shows a clear orange ring, but not sure if I should be seeing that sort of colour through a scope (unless it was caused by filtering). I saw no detail within the black, though this was observed in suburbia. Just wanting to make sure what I got is what I got.

That sounds like a very impressive observation Suzy. I have not seen this colour when I've used an OIII filter and 'though it's beyond my expertise I don't think it's an artefact of the filter. I always find it amazing how much colour I can see in some PNs when I can't see any in brighter nebula. So I'm not surprised - just have to go back and have another look myself. I do find it quite interesting how often if I think I've seen something subtle and then look at an image my observation is confirmed. Sounds like you've struck gold - or orange at least!

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by astroron

Thanks Suzy, "The Little lady old from Eta Carina" (sung to the tune of little old lady from Passadena)
I had seen all that Info but was looking for some more upto date information as say the last couple of months but couldn't find any
My own opinion was that my observations where the result of refurbished mirror and great seeing
But as you say this star is a variable and can go through phases very quickly.
Cheers

Now I have that song stuck in my head .. your a rhymer you are .

The most current information I could find is the one displayed on one of those graphs for 11th Feb. 2010. I've exhausted the net trying to find more current information. I even looked at AAVSCO's site www.aavso.org/ and didn't come up with anything. How about sending an email to them

I'm thinking more seriously about joining the team so I not only can contribute but so I have people to ask to access information. They need people at the moment to observe Eta Carina. I've had interest in doing this for a long time, but decided to hold off. Ron, you and I should volunteer!

By the way, apologies that I forgot to comment on your brilliant observation of Eta Carina. I read it with great interest, but forgot to comment. What an awesome sight you captured there! Eta Carina just doesn't stop to amaze and surprise us does it.
In the meantime, I'll keep trudging the internet for more up-todate info. Perhaps we should place this in another section for better feedback and help regarding information on it's brightening (perhaps the visual astronomy section within this section ).

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Now I have that song stuck in my head .. your a rhymer you are .

The most current information I could find is the one displayed on one of those graphs for 11th Feb. 2010. I've exhausted the net trying to find more current information. I even looked at AVSCO's site and didn't come up with anything. How about sending an email to them

I'm thinking more seriously about joining the team so I not only can contribute but so I have people to ask to access information. They need people at the moment to observe Eta Carina. I've had interest in doing this for a long time, but decided to hold off. Ron, you and I should volunteer!


By the way, apologies that I forgot to comment on your brilliant observation of Eta Carina. I read it with great interest, but forgot to comment. What an awesome sight you captured there! Eta Carina just doesn't stop to amaze and surprise us does it.
In the meantime, I'll keep trudging the internet for more up-todate info. Perhaps we should place this in another section for better feedback and help regarding information on it's brightening (perhaps the visual astronomy section within this section ).

Hi Suzy, thanks for the kind words and and doing the search
QUOTE
I'm thinking more seriously about joining the team so I not only can contribute but so I have people to ask to access information. They need people at the moment to observe Eta Carina. I've had interest in doing this for a long time, but decided to hold off. Ron, you and I should volunteer!

Suzy, seeing as I observe Eta so much as you do also,I would be glad to team up with you and monitor our favourite Star/Nebula
Cheers