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 | 9:50pm - 12:00am CDT |
| Transparency | Clear |
| Seeing | Mostly Stable |
| Weather | Temperature in the upper 60s. There was a 5-10mph breeze. |
The day started out partly cloudy, and the forecasters had predicted a good chance for rain. But by sunset, most of the clouds had departed, except for along the low horizons.
The neighbor was gone for the weekend and left her porchlight off, so I was able to put my telescope at the edge of her back yard and do some Southern sky observing. After a quick peek at Lyra to pick up a double I'd missed the last time, I concentrated on the region of sky surrounding Scorpius.
| O.Struve 525 | Double Star | Lyra | 10:00pm CDT |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA: 18 54.9 | Dec: +33 58 | Mag: 6.0, 7.7 | |
| This is a nice blue and gold pair of similar magnitudes. Even at 49X, the separation is fairly wide. Pretty! | |||
| Struve 2421 | Double Star | Lyra | 10:00pm CDT |
| RA: 18 56.0 | Dec: +33 47 | Mag: 8.9, 9.6 | |
| This double is in the same field of view as OS 525. They are a little dimmer and closer together than the previous pair, and both are a blue-white color. | |||
| Beta | Double Star | Scorpius | 10:15pm CDT |
| Graffias | RA: 16 05.4 | Dec: -19 48 | Mag: 2.6, 4.9 |
| At 49X, this double is easily split, but it's still a fairly close separation. Both stars appear white, with one noticeably dimmer. This pair reminds me a lot of Mizar A/B. The best view seems to be at 81X, where the distance between the stars is greater. | |||
| Xi | Double Star | Scorpius | 10:25pm CDT |
| RA: 16 04.4 | Dec: -11 22 | Mag: 4.8, 7.3 | |
| This is a pretty close double. My best view was at 188X. The primary is yellow-white, and the companion is blue-white. | |||
| Struve 1999 | Double Star | Scorpius | 10:25pm CDT |
| RA: 16 04.4 | Dec: -11 27 | Mag: 7.4, 8.1 | |
| This pair is in the same field of view as x. One star is blue-white and the other is yellow-white. This pair has a wider separation than x. | |||
| M 80 | Globular Cluster | Scorpius | 10:30pm CDT |
| NGC 6093 | RA: 16 17.0 | Dec: -22 59 | Mag: 7.2 |
| This cluster is small, but bright. At 122X, it appears mottled. With averted vision, a few individual stars can be resolved around the edges. Higher powers didn't improve the view tonight. | |||
| M 4 | Globular Cluster | Scorpius | 10:35pm CDT |
| NGC 6121 | RA: 16 23.6 | Dec: -26 32 | Mag: 5.9 |
|
This is a rather loose globular cluster. It looks much better tonight than
it did the other night from a dark-sky site, because the seeing is greatly
improved. Even at 49X, several stars could be resolved. At 81X, a chain of
stars is readily apparent near the center of the cluster.
At 122X, the details really start jumping out, and the cluster nearly fills the field of view. Dozens of stars are visible, along with a hazy background glow. The chain of stars across the glow is even more noticeable. | |||
| M 107 | Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 10:40pm CDT |
| NGC 6171 | RA: 16 32.5 | Dec: -13 03 | Mag: 8.1 |
| This is a faint, but large globular. Despite various magnifications, I was unable to resolve this one at all. It appears as a faint fuzzy patch which is roundish in shape. | |||
| M 19 | Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 10:50pm CDT |
| NGC 6273 | RA: 17 02.6 | Dec: -26 16 | Mag: 7.2 |
| This globular is small, compact, and fairly dim. In fact, at 81X, it is more reminiscent of a spherical galaxy -- a little fuzzy ball of light. I was unable to resolve any individual stars. | |||
| M 62 | Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 11:00pm CDT |
| NGC 6266 | RA: 17 01.2 | Dec: -30 07 | Mag: 6.6 |
| This is a bright globular cluster, and is fairly large. But it must consist of faint stars, because I was unable to resolve it. At best, it appeared to be mottled. | |||
| Butterfly (M 6) | Open Cluster | Scorpius | 11:05pm CDT |
| NGC 6405 | RA: 17 40.1 | Dec: -32 13 | Mag: 4.2 |
| With a little imagination, this does resemble a butterfly in shape. At 49X, the view is magnificent, taking up about half of the field of view. Four of the five brightest stars in the cluster make an almost perfect parallelogram asterism. All four of these stars are within one of the butterfly's wings. At 81X, the cluster takes up the entire field of view, and many more stars are visible (about three dozen). | |||
| Nu | Double Star | Scorpius | 11:10pm CDT |
| 14 | RA: 16 12.0 | Dec: -19 28 | Mag: 4.3, 6.4 |
| This is a nice, wide double. The primary appears white, with maybe a tinge of yellow. The secondary component appears to be a pale bluish-gray. This makes for an interesting color contrast. | |||
| Ptolemy's Cluster (M 7) | Open Cluster | Scorpius | 11:20pm CDT |
| NGC 6475 | RA: 17 53.9 | Dec: -34 49 | Mag: 3.3 |
|
This is a large cluster, filling the field of view even at 49X. It is pretty
loose, and contains several bright stars. The cluster reminds me somewhat of
M44 (The Beehive). There are a couple of small chains of stars, along with
some doubles and triples. The brightest stars of the cluster seemed to be
arranged in a slightly distorted heart shape.
Near the center is a small, nearly equilateral triangle of faint stars. By bumping the power up a little, one of these stars actually has a nearby companion of about the same magnitude. | |||
| M 22 | Globular Cluster | Sagittarius | 11:45pm CDT |
| NGC 6656 | RA: 18 36.4 | Dec: -23 54 | Mag: 5.1 |
| This is a large globular, easily rivaling the size of M13. Even at 49X, many stars are visible. For a globular cluster, it is fairly loose. 122X provided my favorite view. Stars were visible all the way into the center, with a diffuse glow as a backdrop. The cluster appeared to be slightly elliptical in shape. This one is definitely a crowd-pleaser. | |||
| M 9 | Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 11:55pm CDT |
| NGC 6333 | RA: 17 19.2 | Dec: -18 31 | Mag: 7.9 |
| This globular is fairly bright, but is small and composed of dim stars. It had a mottled appearance, but I was unable to resolve individual stars. | |||
By this time, the Teapot of Sagittarius was over the housetops. I did a quick sweep of the Milky Way in the region, including a look at the Omega Nebula. But I had to work the next morning, so decided to pack it in for the night.