by Tom Campbell
| Observer | Tom Campbell |
|---|---|
| Location | Iola, Kansas (Long: 95 30' W Lat: 37 55' N) |
| Equipment | 8" Discovery DHQ dob |
| Eyepieces | 1.25" Plössls (25mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6.5mm, 4mm) |
| Time | 10:15pm - 12:30am CDT |
| Transparency | Clear |
| Seeing | Fair |
| Weather | Temperature in the upper 60s. There was little or no breeze. |
Tonight's clear sky was a repeat of last night, except without all the moisture in the air. In other words, a good night for observing.
I had a few more double stars to catch up on, but my main goal tonight was to play around in the Sagittarius Teapot region. Sagittarius is located near the center of our galaxy, and thus is rich in star clusters and nebulae. As a result, this makes it one of my favorite constellations. Too bad it is located so far South.
| Delta | Double Star | Corvus | 10:15pm CDT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algorab | RA: 12 29.9 | Dec: -16 31 | Mag: 3.0, 9.2 |
| Even at 49X, this is nicely separated. The most noticeable feature of this double is the difference in magnitude of the two components. The bright star is milk white in color, and the dim secondary is whitish-gray. | |||
| Omicron | Double Star | Ophiuchus | 10:35pm CDT |
| 39 | RA: 17 18.0 | Dec: -24 17 | Mag: 5.4, 6.9 |
| This is a nice, fairly close pair. The brighter star is yellow, and the other is a pale blue-white. The best view is at 122X, where the separation is pleasing and the star colors are fairly rich. At 49X, you can still split the pair, but they are too close together to fully appreciate them. | |||
| 36 | Double Star | Ophiuchus | 10:40pm CDT |
| RA: 17 15.3 | Dec: -26 36 | Mag: 5.1, 5.1 | |
| This is a tight double. At 81X, you can just barely get a decent split. The best view was at 188X. Both stars are yellow. Being the same magnitude and color, this makes a classic "headlight" double. At low power, Mars was in the same field of view tonight, which made it really easy to spot. | |||
| M 19 | Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 10:50pm CDT |
| NGC 6273 | RA: 17 02.6 | Dec: -26 16 | Mag: 7.2 |
| This is a small and fairly faint globular. I was unable to resolve it at any power, but at 122X it did start to take on a grainy appearance. If this was higher in the sky, it would probably look a little better. At low power, it does resemble a comet somewhat, which is no doubt why Messier included this on his list. | |||
| M 9 | Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 10:55pm CDT |
| NGC 6333 | RA: 17 19.2 | Dec: -18 31 | Mag: 7.9 |
| This is a bright globular cluster. I've logged it before, but the viewing conditions weren't very good then, so I decided to give it another try. I'm glad I did. At 188X, the cluster starts to resolve around the edges, and a couple of pinpricks are visible across the middle. The stars are difficult to resolve with direct vision, but they really start to pop out with averted vision. It left me with the feeling that if it was a little further north, it would be a much nicer view. | |||
| Lagoon / Hourglass (M 8) | Nebula | Sagittarius | 11:10pm CDT |
| NGC 6523 | RA: 18 03.8 | Dec: -24 23 | Mag: 5.8 |
|
The brightest area of nebulosity is in a roughly elongated oval shape. Right
in the heart of this oval are two or three fairly faint stars in a line.
Between this oval and the nearby open cluster NGC 6530 is a fairly wide dark
band. Fainter nebulosity extends from this band throughout the open cluster.
As I increased magnification, the contrast improved somewhat, making the edges of the dark band a little sharper. But after 121X, the nebula exceeds the field of view. | |||
| NGC 6530 | Open Cluster | Sagittarius | 11:10pm CDT |
| CR 362 | RA: 18 04.7 | Dec: -24 19 | Mag: 4.6 |
| This cluster is nestled inside the Lagoon Nebula. It isn't extremely rich, but it is fairly compact and consists of mostly bright stars. Perhaps 30-40 stars are visible at low powers, and higher magnification reveals even more. Unfortuneately, the Lagoon demands your attention, or this would be a more famous cluster. | |||
| Omega / Swan (M 17) | Cluster+Nebula | Sagittarius | 11:30pm CDT |
| NGC 6618 | RA: 18 20.8 | Dec: -16 11 | Mag: 6.0 |
| At 122X, this nebula takes up about half the field of view. The rectangular body of the swan is extremely obvious and the neck is fairly obvious, together making a checkmark. Although faint, the curving head of the swan was also visible. This is a beautiful showcase object. | |||
| M 18 | Open Cluster | Sagittarius | 11:40pm CDT |
| NGC 6613 | RA: 18 19.9 | Dec: -17 08 | Mag: 6.9 |
| This cluster's stars are fairly bright, but only about 15-20 members are visible. For this region of sky, the cluster really isn't very impressive. | |||
| Eagle (M 16) | Cluster+Nebula | Serpens | 11:45pm CDT |
| NGC 6611 | RA: 18 18.8 | Dec: -13 47 | Mag: 6.0 |
| Although I could detect some faint nebulosity in the area, it wasn't bright enough to make out any definite shape, and I couldn't detect the dark eagle-shaped area of the nebula. However, the associated cluster was quite visible. It is compact and highly irregular-shaped. Due to the richness of the region, it is difficult to tell exactly how many stars are members. Right in the middle of the cluster, there's a nice little 60-degree arc of five stars. | |||
| M 25 | Open Cluster | Sagittarius | 11:50pm CDT |
| IC 4725 | RA: 18 31.6 | Dec: -19 15 | Mag: 4.6 |
| This is a nice, large open cluster, with several dozen members of varying magnitudes. Right in the center, there's an interesting mu-shaped asterism of faint stars. At 49X, the cluster takes up nearly the entire field of view. | |||
| M 28 | Globular Cluster | Sagittarius | 12:00am CDT |
| NGC 6626 | RA: 18 24.5 | Dec: -24 52 | Mag: 6.9 |
| This is a fairly bright cluster, but it is hard to resolve. Even at 188X, I can barely detect a few stars around the outer edges. Other than that, it's a fuzzy globe of light. | |||
| Trifid (M 20) | Cluster+Nebula | Sagittarius | 12:10am CDT |
| NGC 6514 | RA: 18 02.3 | Dec: -23 02 | Mag: 6.3 |
| This nebula has a double star at its core, and is fairly faint. With averted vision, however, I can see the dark lanes that intersect and divide the nebula. It is a nice-sized nebula, but not as large as the Lagoon. Because of its faintness, kicking up the magnification didn't improve the view. | |||
| M 21 | Open Cluster | Sagittarius | 12:15am CDT |
| NGC 6531 | RA: 18 04.6 | Dec: -22 30 | Mag: 5.9 |
| This cluster is just out of the field of view of the Trifid Nebula. It is fairly loose, without too many members. Again, it is somewhat difficult to tell exactly which stars are members, but there is a bright knot of six stars off to one side, and that's the biggest concentration. All told, there are probably about 20 members visible. Around the edges are bright stars in a pentagram or star shape. The bright knot is located at one of these points. | |||
| M 26 | Open Cluster | Scutum | 12:30am CDT |
| NGC 6694 | RA: 18 45.2 | Dec: -09 24 | Mag: 8.0 |
| This is a small but tightly packed open cluster. Even at 188X, the entire cluster can fit within the field of view. There are perhaps 20 visible members of the cluster of varying magnitudes. There is an arc of stars with several bright stars offset to one end. It reminds me of a palm tree more than anything else. | |||
I was starting to get a bit tired, but before retiring, I decided to play around in the Sagittarius Star Cloud for a few minutes. To me, it looks like a puff of steam rising up from the Teapot. There is a bit of controversy over whether the Star Cloud itself is M24, or whether M24 is actually Delle Caustiche, an open cluster located within the Star Cloud. In order to cover my bases, I plan on making a log entry for both. But, I didn't have the location of Delle Caustiche handy tonight, so I'll save my M24 report for another night.
On the bright side, after tonight's viewing, I've observed more than the required 70 Messier objects for the basic Messier Certificate offered by the Astronomical League. Of course, I don't plan to stop there. I want to get the Honorary certificate for logging all 110 objects.