Backyard 10/29/06 Mnt. View

by Jay Critchfield

12.5" dob

Comet Swan
Now in Hercules at the narrow end of the keystone. Not nearly as bright as a few days ago. No evidence of a tail in this urban sky.

IC 4756
Very large open cluster, appox 90 stars, loose concentration spread evenly across field of view, difficult to see in finder in these conditions.

NGC 6633
Large open cluster, loose concentration of stars, random distribution of stars, medium brightness, not identifiable as a cluster in the 9x50 finder in this sky condition.

IC 4665
Very large open cluster, 25+ stars, loose concentration of stars, random distribution, less than medium brightness, no indication of an open cluster in the 9x50 finder in these conditions, about 1 deg N-NW of the Beta star Cebalrai. Noted what appears to be a double star in the E-SE field of view.

NGC 6210
Difficult to find, Very small, appeared as an out of focus star at 87x, Not seen in 9x50 finder, at 238x there was moderate surface brightness, appeared as an out of focus disk, otherwise featureless.

NGC 6826
Difficult to find in these conditions, near the double star cyg16, not visible in the 9x50 finder, appeared as an out of focus star at 87x, at 238x the nebula and central star were visible, low surface brightness of the nebula resulting in a poor blinking effect.

Clouds ended the observing session.

Have a good week!

Jay Critchfield