Tuesday night, the 24th of February 1998, the sky cleared enough from El Nino to give hope of an observing session. I had earlier thought of going to Montebello Regional Open Space Preserve with fellow amateurs, but the sky looked cloudy at 5 p.m., causing me to consider backyard astronomy instead. So, just after posting to our mailing list, the sky did, indeed, clear.
Out came the 10" f/5.6 dob, into my backyard to cool down. Collimation was quick and easy, essentially turning one screw and I was properly aligned. Back inside, I ate a quick dinner, then found my list of mag 10 and under objects in the current early evening's sky. I had left off the prior week with one object remaining in Auriga.
Tonight was special, in my backyard. The neighbors over the back fence were not home. Their kitchen window was dark, rather than throwing enough light for a night sports event. Orion stood high and, clear? No, not *really* clear. I already saw bands of clouds thinly masking Auriga, dead overhead.
Still, I wanted to observe, so in went the 19 Panoptic, a quick align of the finder, and off I went.
My first object was NGC2126 in Auriga. This is a dense cluster shining at mag 10. The cluster sits just off a line described by Beta and Delta Aurigae. There are two stars brighter than any others in the area, and the cluster is involved with them. This was a very difficult cluster to confirm. At first I saw a very faint haze of stars, with a couple dim ones that stood out. I was not sure of this one. Then I started looking around the area a bit more, I decided that this open was actually some star s around one of the two bright stars in the area. Next morning I confirmed with software that the object is around that star. It is not one of the better opens, being sparse and not having many bright components. But it was my last object in Auriga, so I was pleased with the find.
I then moved on to Cancer. There are only two open clusters on my sub mag 10 list in this constellation, one famous, the other very well know. They are M44 (the Beehive / NGC2632) and M67. There was more haze in the sky, not optimal conditions, when I began looking for M44. I could not find it. I was looking at Castor and Pollux in Gemini as guide stars, cursing the light skies, thinking the haze and clouds on the horizon were holding in city light. Then I discovered that I was looking at Canis Minor's stars, mistaking them for the dim head of the Twins. Duh! The Beehive was not a big problem to find naked eye once I was looking in the right area! Once I had the scope looking in the right place, there was no mistake. M44 is a treasure of bright stars! This object easily takes up the entire field of view in the 19 Pan, overflowing it in all directions. Many dozens of bright stars, many doubles, nice color to some of the dimmer components. 44 has a bright "core" ... although it is tough to call it a core since the cluster is diffuse (from in town). The outliers have an obvious border at the "edges" of the cluster.
I then moved on to M67/NGC2682. Looking at my Tirion 2000 charts, I noticed M67 was almost at the right angle intersection between M44 and Procyon, so it should be easy to find. In fact, there is a quadrangle of stars around M44, one of which, when used with M44, points to the mentioned intersection, where another star sits, right next to M67. Unfortunately, when I looked up, the sky was haze. It was beginning to cloud up again. Even so, I could barely detect M44 and Procyon, and off I went in search of M67. No problem! M67 was in the eyepiece when I looked. The cluster took between one third and half the field of view in the 19 Panoptic. This cluster's stars are pretty even in magnitude, for the brighter components. It reminded me of a M38 in Auriga. It would be interesting to look at one, then the other, consecutively. M67 looks like a very loose globular cluster or a rather sparse but condensed open. A couple dozen stars of about equal magnitude are apparent, while it seems like there are many, many dim stars involved as well. Again, the cluster is rather compact, and lacking "stringers" coming off it. Finally, the cluster has one obviously bright member at the edge of the object, and other bright stars at the edge of the field in the 19 P an.
One of my favorite clusters lies in Canis Major. It is NGC2362, which contains Tau Canis Majoris. The star Tau is of interest itself, being one of the most luminous stars known, having an absolute magnitude of about minus 7, and luminosity of over 50,000 suns. What a beast! But the cluster, with Tau sitting right in the center, is a wonderful and *fun* sight! Fun? How can that be? Well, although not politically correct, Tau has taken on the name of "Mexican Jumping Star" locally. Many of us rememb remember "Mexican Jumping Beans" when we were kids... how they would "wiggle" around. Well, when this cluster is centered in the eyepiece, and one taps their telescope, Tau seems to move independently of the dimmer stars in the cluster. The effect can be quite striking! Some of the more respected and serious members of our observing group have been known to look for long periods at this effect, chuckling! Oddly, 2362 shows on my list as being roughly mag 4, whereas the next object, M41, is dimmer at mag 5. Surprise! Anyone who has not viewed this smallish cluster should really do so... Tau sitting right in the middle, alone in the middle of the cluster except for one faint close companion, is an outstanding sight! In this view, there are an amazing number of dim stars surrounding the cluster. What a great view! I would put the cluster at about one sixth the field of view, with many bright components, perhaps 24 to 30 stars or more. Tau overwhelms the rest of the cluster, but the cluster itself, even without Tau, would be a worthwhile target.
About this time, bands of clouds began filling the sky from the north, like spokes on a bicycle hub. Being in the backyard tonight was the right choice.
Next, on to NGC2287, roughly mag 5 in Canis Major. You probably know this cluster better as M41. This cluster is so bright, that I looked up at Sirius, then a bit south, and thought I could detect a naked eye smudge. Moving the scope to the smudge and peeking in the eyepiece, M41 was centered. I will admit it help in locating this cluster naked eye that I have looked at it many times before. This is certainly one of the largest open clusters I have seen, aside from M44 and M45. It surpasses in size any of the M's in Auriga, an has anywhere from 60 to 90 stars visible. It fills 80 to 90 percent of the 19 Pan's field of view. It is a diffuse cluster, containing strings of stars and doubles. The dimmer components appear to be somewhat hazy tonight. When you move the object to one side of the field, it becomes obvious that it is a cohesive grouping, as it trails off rapidly into empty space.
Next on to NGC2374 in Canis Major. This should be somewhere in the mid 7's for magnitude. The cluster is just above a line described by Sirius and M47/46 in Puppis. It is near Thor's Helmet, which several of us viewed last year up at Skyline. This cluster is no eye-popper. It is a condensation of fairly dim stars, requiring several field sweeps to verify there was not other brighter cluster nearby. There are a few brighter components, but it is mostly dim speckling that makes up the cluster. It would look better in a dark and clear sky. The cluster may take up about one third my field of view, but most of the stars are in a compact core, even though they are dim. I would probably not go out of my way to look at this one again.
I then went after NGC2345, near stars 20 and 23 in Canis Major. There are a lot of interesting objects right in this area. Unfortunately, I noticed that Orion was disappearing. Rigel was dim, as were Castor and Pollux in Gemini. I looked to the north, and at zenith, and it was all cloud.
Well, better an hour or so occasionally then nothing at all. El Nino gave me a short break, now I'm ready for a full night this weekend.