by Géza Kurczveil
| Instrument | 8" f/6 Dobson. |
|---|---|
| Observer | Géza Kurczveil |
| Experience | 1.5 years |
Well, here is my promised OR. Before we begin, let me point out that I am a beginner. I generally find it hard to see objects with low surface brightness unless there is some variation of brightness within the object. I don't have a problem with faint stars though. I create my observing lists while browsing through http://www.astro.helsinki.fi/~kahanpaa/astro/MACindex.html and Skyhound. Usually, I don't put any Messiers on my observing list because I stop by them when I am starhopping. Even though M15, the double cluster, and M52 are not on this list, I did check them (and others) out.
Alright let's go.
| North America Nebula region | I started out with The North America nebula. It was a very nice view. The pelican was also visible. The focus; however, was supposed to be on IC5068, a nebula just below the pelican, but he didn't show up. I didn't spend too much time on this one, though. |
|---|---|
| Sadr region | Next up was the nebulosity around Sadr. Unfortunately I couldn't see anything - I should have brought a POSS picture. |
| N7026 | This is a planetary in Cygnus that I was unable to find during my last session. This time; however, I brought more detailed charts, and the PN was quickly found. He is pretty small though. |
| N7048 | Another planetary I couln't find during my last session. Once again, I could not find him. That region is just too busy for my taste. He'll be on my next list - for the third time |
| N7139 | A PN in Cepheus. Since I rushed through the first few objects, I decided to spend some more time on this one. I had very detailed charts with me, but for the love of life I could not find him. After about 10 minutes of scanning the region, I decided to give up. On my way to my notes, where I was going to enter 'Not found', I noticed that it was still relatively early, so I decided that I could afford to spend another 10 minutes. Sure enough, after 5 minutes I did see him at 100x with the OIII in place. Wow, this one is faint. |
| N7023 | A nebula in Cepeus that is yet another object I could not find during my last session. This nebula was pretty difficult for me. Initially, I thought that it was just a halo around a star, but when I compared it to other stars the nebula became more apparent. The best view was without any filters. |
| N7129 | Another nebula in Cepeus that I couldn't find during my last session. This time the nebula was pretty trivial to find. I don't know how I missed it a month ago. Again, the best view was without any filters. |
| N7331 | Next up was the 7331 group. The goal was to identify some of his companions, but I failed to do so. A nice view though. |
| Stephan's Quintet | After identifying the region, I didn't see a thing. :-( |
| N7094 | This little PN is in Pegasus right next to M15. When I looked at my POSS image to identify some of the background stars, I decided to skip this object because the PN appeared to be a lot fainter than N7139. I honestly don't feel good about 'not trying', but ... |
| N7479 | A barred spiral in Pegasus. I found him, but he was not as easy as I thought. I spent about 10 minutes on this one; unfortunately, I couldn't see any structure. |
| N7635 | The bubble nebula. Another object I couln't find during my last session. This time I think I saw it, but it was very faint. During my last session I stumbled across N7538 while scanning the region for the bubble, so I decided to pay him a little visit. I honestly don't know what the big deal is with the bubble - N7538 is so much nicer, even though he is just a 'little green box' nebula. |
| Abell 2 | A PN that I couldn't find during my last session. This time I decided to skip this one for the same reason as N7094. Again, I don't like 'not trying', but what can I do. On the POSS picture this one is a lot fainter than N7139. |
| N896 | This is a nebula right next to the heart and soul nebulae. He showed up very nicely. The heart and soul nebulea did not show up - too bad. |
| N7640 | A galaxy in Andromeda that is pretty close to N7662. I couldn't see a thing. I should have brought a POSS picture. He'll be on my next list. |
Alright, it may seem that I rushed through these and I have to admit that on some of these I did rush. That's because I also checked out some Messiers on my way to some of these objects. The main reason; however, was because to moon was threatening to come up and I wanted enough time for the next two objects - G1 and G76 in M31.
| G1 | G1 is the brightest (m13.7) globular cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy. The starhop to G1 was pretty easy. At 40x I identified the region, but I couln't see the glob. At 200x, G1 showed up very nicely. It looked like a dimmed M15 through a finder scope. This object alone made the night very memorable. |
|---|---|
| G76 | G76 is another bright (m14.2) globular cluster in M31. The starhop to this fella is trivial - theoretically. I, of course, was completely confused with the starhop. Anyways, after about 10 minutes I finally identified the region. At 100x - nothing. 133x - nothing. At 200x - Jackpot. At 200x, G76 was relatively easy to see with averted vision. At 400x, G76 was visible with direct vision and had a fuzzy appearance. Maybe I'll put G78 on my next list. |
I packed up at 12:30am.
G1 and G76 made this the most memorable night of observing I have had so far. Next time I will spend some more time with our friendly NGCs and Ms.
Posted on sf-bay-tac Aug 28, 2005 13:58:44 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 08, 2006 23:08:17 PT