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 | 11:00pm - 11:45pm CDT |
| Transparency | Clear |
| Seeing | Mostly Stable |
| Weather | Temperature in the upper 80s. There was no breeze. |
Tonight, I wasn't really planning on observing, but the sky was just too clear to ignore. I got a late start tonight, and didn't have a set observing plan ready. So I just grabbed a few star charts and headed out to the backyard to have a quick peek at whatever caught my eye.
| M 56 | Lyra | Globular Cluster | 11:00pm CDT |
|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 6779 | RA: 19 16.6 | Dec: +30 11 | Mag: 8.3 |
| This is a faint globular. In fact, it doesn't really start to resolve until 122X. At 188X, using averted vision, I could detect sprinkles of stars on a faint hazy background. At 305X, it looks its best. The stars are a little easier to make out. More stars seem to be visible along one side of the cluster than the other. It's a little difficult to tell exactly where the edges of the cluster are. | |||
| Blinking Planetary | Cygnus | Planetary Nebula | 11:10pm CDT |
| NGC 6826 | RA: 19 44.8 | Dec: +50 31 | Mag: 9.8 |
| At 81X, this is the brightest object in the field. At this low power, it
still appears nearly stellar. Its color appears to be mostly gray, with a
tinge of blue. At 122X, I could definitely tell that it was non-stellar. The
nebula appears much better at 188X, with the central star popping in and out
(blinking) with averted vision and with the changing seeing conditions.
At 305X, the central star was obvious, even with direct vision, and stayed in view constantly. The nebula sometimes appeared to consist of concentric rings, but this may have just been the diffraction pattern of the bright central star superimposed over it. | |||
| ET / Owl / Bug Cluster | Cassiopeia | Open Cluster | 11:30pm CDT |
| NGC 457 | RA: 01 19.1 | Dec: +58 20 | Mag: 6.4 |
| This open cluster, one of my favorites, was just clearing the trees, and I couldn't resist another look. At 49X, this cluster resembles E.T. more than anything else in this telescope. Even at this low power, the cluster takes up almost the entire field of view. The two brightest stars are the creature's eyes (one eye is brighter than the other). Long chains of stars form a stick body, long arms and short legs. | |||
| M 103 | Cassiopeia | Open Cluster | 11:35pm CDT |
| NGC 581 | RA: 01 33.2 | Dec: +60 42 | Mag: 7.4 |
| At low powers, this really is an unimpressive cluster. The brightest two
stars are on either end, with two more fairly bright stars appearing as a
pair and located between the first two. The remaining members of the cluster
are fairly faint.
At 188X, about 20 stars are visible and the cluster appears somewhat triangular. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the Star Trek emblem that Capt. Kirk wore on his uniform. The brightest star is at the top of the "A" shape. | |||
Time to call it a night. I had work the next morning. The observing session was short tonight, but I'm glad I made it out there. I had never seen the Blinking Planetary before, so that alone made the effort worth it.