#1  
Old 12-04-2022, 08:10 PM
EpickCrom (Joe)
Epick Crom

EpickCrom is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Perth
Posts: 382
Moonlit Night Sights

G'day fellow astronomers! After what seemed like an eternity of cloudy nights, we finally got a clear night ( well partial clear night) over here in Perth. The waxing gibbous moon was up but I gotta take what's given. Out came the 10 inch dob for some quality time.

Started in the constellation of Gemini in search of the Eskimo Nebula NGC 2392. I have observed this wonderful planetary nebula before, but this time I wanted to hit it with higher magnification then I've used on it before. I used my 5mm eyepiece barlowed to give me 480x. At this power the central star was easily visible with the nebulosity surrounding it appearing a light green. A wonderful sight.

I cruised around Centaurus next, stopping at Alpha Centauri first. Both stars in this closest of doubles to earth looked magnificent at 100x, shining brightly with a delicious light golden colour. I moved to open cluster NGC 5617, a fairly rich cluster, though rather muted by my light pollution in suburban Perth plus the light of the moon. There is another nice open cluster near by, NGC 5606. This is an interesting cluster, small, compact and moderately rich. I have dubbed it the "Syringe Cluster" due to its shape

Some clouds were starting to rear their ugly heads so I quickly turned my attention to near by Circinus. Got a Squiz of Alpha Circini, a beautiful double star. Close to Alpha Circini is an asterisk that I've never seen before. It looks like an elongated arrow. At the tip of this "arrow" lies the double star CO Circini. Please check this out if you can as I found it to be quite an interesting asterism.

Clouds were coming and going so I decided to pack it in, early start at work the next morning. Not a bad 45 min session despite the moonlight. Clear skies to you all

Joe
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-04-2022, 08:19 PM
AdamJL
Registered User

AdamJL is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,100
Wonderful report, Joe

Thanks for sharing
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-04-2022, 09:07 PM
EpickCrom (Joe)
Epick Crom

EpickCrom is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Perth
Posts: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamJL View Post
Wonderful report, Joe

Thanks for sharing
No worries Adam, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for reading
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 13-04-2022, 09:14 AM
Dave882 (David)
Registered User

Dave882 is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: PADSTOW
Posts: 2,055
Thanks for sharing Joe! Your reports are always such wonderful reads!!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 13-04-2022, 11:28 AM
EpickCrom (Joe)
Epick Crom

EpickCrom is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Perth
Posts: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave882 View Post
Thanks for sharing Joe! Your reports are always such wonderful reads!!
Thank you Dave! Wishing you clear skies.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 14-04-2022, 01:28 AM
ngcles's Avatar
ngcles
The Observologist

ngcles is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Billimari, NSW Central West
Posts: 1,664
Hi Joe & All,

Quote:
Originally Posted by EpickCrom View Post
Started in the constellation of Gemini in search of the Eskimo Nebula NGC 2392. I have observed this wonderful planetary nebula before, but this time I wanted to hit it with higher magnification then I've used on it before. I used my 5mm eyepiece barlowed to give me 480x. At this power the central star was easily visible with the nebulosity surrounding it appearing a light green. A wonderful sight ...


Joe
Enjoyed your report Joe. When it's both dark and top-notch seeing, you'll find me looking at virtually all the PNe available. The difference between very good and great seeing reveals a wealth of detail in some objects.

I remember fondly a night in late February around 15 years ago with the 18" when we had a rare night of magnificent seeing down at a southern highlands site we used regularly and I spent most of the night on PNe.

Particularly notable was NGC 2392 in Gemini. Here is an old note using 25cm and the note using 46cm:

NGC 2392 PNe Gemini
25cm x181: Very bright PNe, even without the UHC. The central star is very prominent. With the UHC, it appears to verge on 1' diameter, with diffuse edges, brightening generally evenly to centre where there is a brighter area perhaps 20" diameter within which is the central star. WNW to W of within the halo is a slightly darker arc. Bright powder blue, near culmination. Magnitude 7 star N by about 2’.

46cm x494: Wow!! Words nearly fail. Virtually all of the detail in the Hubble image is visible or at least there are hints of it. This PNe has a prominent magnitude 11 central star. The whole halo just over 1' diameter with a very diffuse looking edge. This outer halo comprises the outer 15" diameter and is patchy in brightness with a radially streaked appearance like someone has raked it (like rake-marks in a sand bunker on the golf-course) outward in places. It is blue without filtration. Then heading inward there is a definite, fine, circular, possibly slightly ovoid boundary where the inner halo takes over. The inner halo is generally smoother, but at times when the seeing settles completely, you can occasionally make out a maze of fine, weakly brighter streaks criss-crossing the centre -- particularly in the S half of the inner halo and some occasional tiny darker areas between. A magnificent object -- wonderful! Seeing this night was exceptional.

Best,

L.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 14-04-2022, 07:25 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Hi Joe,

Thanks for your enjoyable reports. Keep up the good work!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 14-04-2022, 09:10 AM
EpickCrom (Joe)
Epick Crom

EpickCrom is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Perth
Posts: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by ngcles View Post
Hi Joe & All,



Enjoyed your report Joe. When it's both dark and top-notch seeing, you'll find me looking at virtually all the PNe available. The difference between very good and great seeing reveals a wealth of detail in some objects.

I remember fondly a night in late February around 15 years ago with the 18" when we had a rare night of magnificent seeing down at a southern highlands site we used regularly and I spent most of the night on PNe.

Particularly notable was NGC 2392 in Gemini. Here is an old note using 25cm and the note using 46cm:

NGC 2392 PNe Gemini
25cm x181: Very bright PNe, even without the UHC. The central star is very prominent. With the UHC, it appears to verge on 1' diameter, with diffuse edges, brightening generally evenly to centre where there is a brighter area perhaps 20" diameter within which is the central star. WNW to W of within the halo is a slightly darker arc. Bright powder blue, near culmination. Magnitude 7 star N by about 2’.

46cm x494: Wow!! Words nearly fail. Virtually all of the detail in the Hubble image is visible or at least there are hints of it. This PNe has a prominent magnitude 11 central star. The whole halo just over 1' diameter with a very diffuse looking edge. This outer halo comprises the outer 15" diameter and is patchy in brightness with a radially streaked appearance like someone has raked it (like rake-marks in a sand bunker on the golf-course) outward in places. It is blue without filtration. Then heading inward there is a definite, fine, circular, possibly slightly ovoid boundary where the inner halo takes over. The inner halo is generally smoother, but at times when the seeing settles completely, you can occasionally make out a maze of fine, weakly brighter streaks criss-crossing the centre -- particularly in the S half of the inner halo and some occasional tiny darker areas between. A magnificent object -- wonderful! Seeing this night was exceptional.

Best,

L.
Wonderful observing notes there Les, thanks!I agree PN are among my favorite objects to observe too. Clear skies!
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 14-04-2022, 09:11 AM
EpickCrom (Joe)
Epick Crom

EpickCrom is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Perth
Posts: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tropo-Bob View Post
Hi Joe,

Thanks for your enjoyable reports. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Bob! Wishing you clear skies
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 05:33 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement