Observed 8/12
NGC 2243
NGC 1261
NGC 1851
NGC 2298
NGC 1792
NGC 1808
Observed 28/12
NGC 1316
NGC 1317
NGC 1365
NGC 1380
NGC 1487
Got the last five last night, really nice skies nabbed lotsa galaxies in Fornax incuding some really faint ones and even managed to get NGC 2024 (The Flame neb in Orion) for the first time in my backyard!
I will post a full report when I have written it all down from my notes.
Well done, Malcom. Alas for me, the situation is like Glen's. And so far, when it has been clear, it has been for Lunar work.
And a double well done with the Flame Nebula. If it wasn't so close to the Horsey, on its own I'm sure it would have a bigger 'fan club'. It is subtle, yet detailed as you describe in your Obs. report. It's one of my fav's.
I reckon the December/January observing challenge is observing at all.
Amen to that. We've had one clear night in the last two weeks and I was otherwise engaged on that night. It's hot, muggy and cloudy with rain predicted, I can't even get a good nights sleep.
I only had a short session tonight. Wasn't even ment to be a "true" session. I had bought an adaptor to use 1.25" eyepieces in my nearly 30 year old Tasco 2" refractor, with the hope of making it into a finder, I finally got to try it out. What I wasn't expecting was the image I got of M42! Even the eyepiece I was using was a modest Super Plossl 25mm.
Way-back-when, all I could "see" of M42 was the bright, tight fan shaped region around the Trapesium. Tonight, with all the extra light pollution here in my home in Sydney, but with 30 years experience, Bugger Me I could now make out soft, faint extensions radiating out from this brighter core!!!
These were no mistake. Two distinct filaments radiated out from the base of the nebula, slowly expanding out and reducing in brightness as the moved out, but also there was a distinct dark demarkation cutting a boundary to the lower portion. The rest of the internal area of M42 was also filled with detailed, soft markings, though not as distinct, yet with a definite darker eastern half.
I also saw three stars that form the Trapesium. And the Fish Mouth, dark and prominent. I never imagined I'd see a dark pillar through a 2" scope!
Also seeable was the small 'ball-like' nebula immediately below the Trapesium.
Even a soft glow of nebulosity was seen around where the Running Man nebula is! Freaking unreal!!
I managed to find a sketch of M42 done by Charles Messier. Mine is not dissimilar to his.
I did use an OIII filter to bring out the details.
Never, ever did I imagine all this was 'seeable' with a 2" refractor, and from Sydney!
This sketch is also the first I've done next to the eyepiece since my meeting with the fantastic astro sketcher Scott Mellish, whose many sketches grace the gallery of the ASOD (Astronomy Sketch Of the Day) web site.
Scott, your technique has totally changed the way I approach DSO with a pencil & paper, and a dry paint brush, .
Am I excited, or what!
Sketch summary:
Gear: 2" f/12 refractor
Eyepiece: 25mm Super Plossl, 24X
Filter: OIII
Media: white pastel, white & black charcoal on black paper
Date: 30th December 2010
Location: my backyard, Sydney
NGC-2419 most distant glob known (mag 9.1) (in LynX) from around 2.30am low in the NthEst Dec1st
NGC-2683 Spr Glxy (mag 10.6) border of cancer from around 3.30am low in the NthEst Dec 1st
M67 (Red cluster) halfwar between Procyon & Regulus
Thanks Rob! Your post jogged my memory that I'd left the quest for difficult globs drift off over the past few years. NGC 2419 in Lynx is one that I assumed didn't get above my hilly horizon, but checking last night I found that it just managed to scrape in. SEDS data has it at mag 10.4 - some other sources have it at 9.1. The skies were fairly good but not brilliant low in the north, though the main prob was dark adaptation seeing as I'd been processing images on the computer for hours! 4.5" f8 reflector & 21 mm Celestron X-Cel eyepiece.
NGC 2419 initially showed as a tiny, very faint glow perhaps an arcminute in diameter, roughly in line with two bright stars (mag 7-8) and about the star-spacing to the east. As my eyes got better adapted I could hold it quite well. With the distant treeline slicing into the field, I eventually managed to get flickerings of an extension, perhaps 3 arcminutes in diameter.
Not much, but that is the 104th MW globular cluster I've seen through the little scope.
It was late (around 2am) but I did attend to some 'unfinished business' - planetary nebula NGC 2438 hiding in oc NGC 2437 (M47). I could only see it in averted vision, a small faint round glow on the edge the cluster, nothing to write home about through my scope!
Great sketch Alex - amazing what you've done with a 2" scope. And as you say, years of observing experience. Both you and Rob clearly show what can be done with modest equipment. And Orestis is not far off either..
Do you have a nebular filter of any type in your kit? The reason I ask is two fold:
* They can help with seeing nebulae.
* I'd be interested in your observations of the Eta Carina nebula through your scope. It would be interesting to hear about the smallest apeture through with its many dark pillars.
Do you have a nebular filter of any type in your kit? The reason I ask is two fold:
* They can help with seeing nebulae.
* I'd be interested in your observations of the Eta Carina nebula through your scope. It would be interesting to hear about the smallest apeture through with its many dark pillars.
Thanks Alex! I have a range of filters, but never really use them. I like the full view - a weirdly coloured neb with no stars just doesn't cut it for me! I did find my neb filter useful once in isolating Thor's Helmet, but even then I could see it OK (filterless) in the rich starfield. I think filters are better for bigger apertures where you've got more light to burn.
Eta Carinae nebula is brilliant in my scope at low powers. Dark lanes, rich nebulosity, bright stars - such a wide field! But I can't make out the homonculus (yet!!! ).
Rob, do you do your observing from a dark site? I can then see why a neb. filter might not be too much help. I find them invaluble from my home though. Even when I used the OIII with the 2", it did help clean up the light pollution. I too found at a dark site, filters where, well, "so what" more or less. For some details they can help but the image neat is excellent with out a filter.
The dark pillars I mentioned in my previous post are those related to Bok Globuals. They rise into the brighter part of the nebula like half a dozen black, skeletal fingers, knotty and knarly.
Rob, do you do your observing from a dark site? I can then see why a neb. filter might not be too much help. I find them invaluble from my home though. Even when I used the OIII with the 2", it did help clean up the light pollution. I too found at a dark site, filters where, well, "so what" more or less. For some details they can help but the image neat is excellent with out a filter.
Yep, I'm at a nice dark site Alex, NELM consistently above 6 (if you discount 2010, what a year of rubbish skies ). If I was in a light polluted area the 4.5" would not be good enough, even with an LP filter. The trick with small apertures is dark site, low powers.
I agree about the 'neat' image. However if you've got a big scope with a good mirror, teasing out nebula detail with a suitable filter is very rewarding - Tim Nott's 22" is a stand-out IMO, wow! With a little scope, it's like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!
NGC 2419 initially showed as a tiny, very faint glow perhaps an arcminute in diameter, roughly in line with two bright stars (mag 7-8) and about the star-spacing to the east. As my eyes got better adapted I could hold it quite well. With the distant treeline slicing into the field, I eventually managed to get flickerings of an extension, perhaps 3 arcminutes in diameter.
Not much, but that is the 104th MW globular cluster I've seen through the little scope.
Not much to add? Well I'll add a pat on the back -- 104 G.Cs in that aperture is very, very impressive. Congratulations ... and NGC 2419 is a very tough ask in that aperture so ...
Best,
Les D
P.S ... there goes my emoticon allowance for the month.
Having got all the December objects (thanks for making some interesting challenges Alex) I am having a look at the January ones. Though I maght take a different approach with a couple of the objects. First cab of the rank is M42, yeah I know M42, been there done that, but I thought what haven't I seen yet? Came up with colour. And yes I am sure I saw colour, the area arounf the trapezium was a distinct pale green and the southern fainter bits took on a distinct pink hue. Effect was most noticable at 67x with the 24mm pan. The 34 mm gave no colour at all and the 13mm Nag at 115x gave just a hint. I think the 24mm allows the neb to fill the field which helps with contrast. Also I focused on not looking at the bright bits but let the colour of the fainter extensions grow on me which seemed to enhance the colour.
If colour is not a good option for your eyes, then see to make out the wispy, smoke like details in the veil. The variations in density can really intensify the 3D effect.
M42 was one of the first objects, if not the first, I looked at through my 17.5" when it got into my hands. I nearly fell over backwards then, and I still do a double-take now. Extraordinary.
Not much to add? Well I'll add a pat on the back -- 104 G.Cs in that aperture is very, very impressive. Congratulations ... and NGC 2419 is a very tough ask in that aperture so ...
Best,
Les D
P.S ... there goes my emoticon allowance for the month.
Thanks Les - I suppose I've blown my Brownie points now with the Crux names....
Well I had a shot at a few of the targets tonight - absolutely lovely dark skies and a shame I couldn't spend longer outside. Viewing using Tasco 4.5" f8 reflector and 21mm Celestron X-Cel eyepiece (43x).
Open cluster NGC 2243 in Canis Major was just a small dim background glow to me, not unlike a distant faint glob. Averted vision helped but not much to see. Globular cluster NGC 1261 is a gem, a lovely round bright centrally-condensed globular. NGC 2298 was much dimmer, slightly larger and less centrally-condensed. It seemed off-round to me. Missed NGC 1851, too hard right near the zenith and I didn't have detailed charts.
Had a quick scan around the Fornax galaxy cluster - lots of little fainties but I did that area in detail in an earlier obs report. Couldn't get much out of NGC 1365, one day I'm gonna see the bar! NGC 1792 & 1808 in Columba were very nice, and I can't remember seeing them before. Both were very obvious scanning through the field, but I think I was lucky as there were zenith probs with these too. 1808 seemed the more edge-on to me - 1792 was slightly more oval-shaped. Both were fairly even glows (no bright nuclei showing), with slight extensions visible in averted vision. Separation was just over half the FOV. Didn't bother with galaxy NGC 1487 in Eridanus - at mag 12.3 it is probably out of my range, but in any case detailed charts and the investment of a slab of time would have been required (lazy astronomer!).
Planetary nebula NGC 1535 in Eridanus was bright but tiny, with no detail visible. I didn't have my 8mm EP outside so I left it fairly quickly.
Of Part II, I only had a look at M42 & M45. M42 was beautiful - you can tell you've got good conditions when it shows a really creamy texture, smooth as silk! Running Man was showing well, as was the Flame Nebula. Horsehead? Well, in my dreams! Pleiades cluster was brilliant using the 40mm eyepiece.
Saw lots of other stuff - Eta Carinae nebula, Southern Pleiades, Tarantula Nebula, Omega Centauri, 47 Tucanae, NGC 2287 (brilliant open cluster near Sirius), Jewel Box etc etc.
I did find my neb filter useful once in isolating Thor's Helmet, but even then I could see it OK (filterless) in the rich starfield. I think filters are better for bigger apertures where you've got more light to burn.
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