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by Nilesh Shah
| Location | Henry Coe State Park |
|---|---|
| Date | 9/11/1999 |
| Telescope | SJAA scope #26, 11" f4.5 |
| Eyepieces | Orion 26 mm plossol, Edscorp K. 18mm and Orion Explorer II 10 mm |
Objects I looked at -
This globular is easy to find as it is just above lambda Sgr at the head of the spout.
This big fussy ball is between theta and lambda Sgr. The way I reached there is to go 70% from theta Sgr towards lambda Sgr and go a bit up from there. I don't know the exact distance but I look at distance between theta and lambda Sgr in the sky chart and estimate how much up I have to go for M22. It is a big cluster.
I didn't have idea about size of this globular and I wasn't sure if it could be seen with my 11" dob. it But since it was clost to M22, I decided to try for it. My 1000+ The Amateur Astronomer's Field Guide to Deep Sky Observing doesn't have detail star chart to locate this except that it's right next to M22, so I looked at Jamie Dillon's new Sky Atlas 2000. I found that there are 3 stars(one double) next to M22 and one field above them and just below two stars(one double) lie this globular. I tried it and while I moved from the double next to M22 to the double above it, I noticed a faint object. I couldn't even see the shape very clearly(for some reason I was finding difficult to keep in foucs). Trying to pump up magnification had a reverse effect, it was very faint But I knew it was what I was looking for because I verified the stars patterns around it.
This planetery nebula is next to N6642 and the Sky Atlas showed that the way to go for it is go to the double star next to N6642, go up and I should see a star. N6629 is next to it. At this point I thought of comparing Sky Atlas 2000 with TNSOG. So I went to Mark and got it. I found the finder chart for the area and also looked up the description for N6629, which said "it is in middle of a line formed with two stars next to it and at lower magnification appears almost stellar. However at 200x it should show it's ring". I got the line by going up and right of the double star next to N6642. And as the TNSOG mentioned, I could see the "middle star" was fuzzy. I was using 18 mm eyepiece. I tried my 10mm and Jamie's 7.5 mm but wasn't sure if I saw the ring. The 11" dob I'm using has an SCT mirror and I thought probably this is not the right instrument and/or right time to see the ring. I wished Bob Czerwinski was there to show me this object in his scope. ( I had a great time last week looking at some planetery nebula through his scope). So assuming this fuzzy point of light is not a star and is N6629 I moved on
I found this when I was searching for M70. It is to right(may be one field)and above the left bottom star of the teapot (Aschella). This is a small and not so bright globular. I couldn't see the core.
This globular is right in the middle of the line joining the bootom stars of the teapot. I found it very similar to M54, small and not so bright.(Later I got to look at it in Jamie's scope and it appeared better in it, nice contrast)
The icon for this globular is smaller than M70 in my 1000+ sky chart and having looked at small M70, I wasn't sure if I can see this one for sure. Besides I had no clue about it's surface brightness. It is between M70 and epsilone Sgr(Kaus Astralis?) (40% from M70). While moving the scope towards epsilone Sgr, I saw a samll fuzzball. I looked at the telrad again to make sure that I didn't reach M69. Since my telarad was pointing on a point on the line joining bottom stars of the teapot, I was sure I didn't go up to M69. To make sure though, I searched for M69
My 1000+ sky chart showed that M69 is above and to the right of N6652. May be I need to go a couple of fields up right and above. There it was - certainly a bigger globular than N6652 and maybe bigger than M70. It was to be expected as the icon appeared bigger than N6652 in the sky chart.
This wasn't difficult to find as it is just below delta Sgr(delta Sgr is labeled "Kaus Media" in my 1000+ sky chart but it's called "Nunki" in my Planeterium program. I wonder what's right. This is also a faint and small globular
This is also an easy one as it is just above gamma Sgr. I found a faint globular and I believed it is N6522 as it is the only globular shown in my 1000+ sky chart near gamma Sgr. But when I looked it up in my planeterium program, I see that there is another globular N6528 very close to it . Now I'm not sure what I looked at. I'll have to look for it again next week.
This is near the line joining gamma and epsilone Sgr. I started from gamma Sgr and came @40% towards epsilon Sgr and then went a bit up towards delta Sgr. Some slow scope movement and it was there. This was very much like N6522
This apeared as a big globular in my sky chart but there is no easy pattern. The way I tried was to go between Tau Sgr and Aschella and go about thrice the distance between Tau Sgr and Aschella. I was hoping this would work as M55 seems a big globular. Once I tried and got lost. Tried again the same method and with some slow movement of the scope I found it. This is really a big globular. What a treat after looking at small NGC globulars in teapot.
By this time I guess I covered a lot of clusters in Saggitarius and then I remembered that I had brought a list of things to see for that night. The list was mainly highlights of the month from S&T and Messier, Herschel list for this month from TAC's website. I was really impressed with the picture of "Bernard's E" in S&T's binocular highlight, so decided to try my binocular. I think I saw a big dark E, though not very clearly. Maybe I'll try it again later in a darker sky.
This is a galaxy(N6946) and an open cluster together in Cepheus. I thought I found them and wanted to verify it, so called Doug Davis and he goes - "What the heck are you looking at? You're not even in Cepheus, you're in Perseus" He showed me the Cepheus and then I tried again. It is little left of eta Cep. Again I consulted Sky Atlas 2000 for details and I verified that this is what I'm looking for by conforming the star patterns around them - twice by starting from alpha Cep and going to eta Cep and from there to the field having N6946 and 6936. I also called Doug to verify it and when he said "nice job!" I was happy. Well, I know now where Cepheus is-:)
This is very easy binocular object. With alpha Tri at the bottom, M33 appears at the top of the field of the binicular. Starting from alpha Tri, it is an easy catch in the scope too. big and fuzzy. I have yet to see some details in it.
I think I counted 9 brighter stars this time with my 7x50 binocs
After looking at Jupiter and Saturn through Rich's scope(Those are the most awesome views of them I've ever seen!)while walking back to my scope I observed a fuzzy band distinctly coming out in Milky way between Cassiopeia and Perseus(as I would learn later that it's Perseus and not Cepheus). I thought that is probably California nebula. I had looked at a picture of it before and what I saw resembled the shape. Doug told me that you can't see California nebula naked eye. I pointed my scope at it and as he said what it could be, it was - the double cluster. It was magnificent. Later Doug showed me California nebula. It was tough to see even with the filter on. Naked eye? no way!
Couple of things I couldn't find (maybe I didn't try hard) - N6951 and N6558 I'll look for them next time. I think it was a great night. I left at about 1:30 in the morning.