by Ron Bhanukitsiri
I admit that the name raspberry intrigued me when I first added IC 418 PN to my list. Last night (01/04/02), conditions were less than ideal for DSO observation with clouds patches, breeze, mild fog in the valley and of course light pollution from my southern sky. I estimated the LM to be about 4.5.
At 30x and 60x, it was only stellar. Although I'm not 100% certain, it sure looked somewhat like a very mild red star, especially when I compared it to the two reddish/orange stars nearby: SAO 150427 (I use this one to focus) and SAO 150440. The view changed dramatically after I slipped in my PN killer eyepiece (8mm TV Radian) at 110x. It then was detectable as non-stellar, but lost its mild reddish color! BTW, this PN is only 14" teeny. What a difference magnification makes! At 146x (6mm TV Radian), it's *definitely* a planetary nebula with bright 10.2th magnitude central star. However, I don't see red, but a fairly bright greenish gray glow around the central star. Brightness of the glow and central star is retained even at 220x (4mm Radian), still greenish gray. Ah, but the view would have been best at 293x (3mm Radian) if it wasn't for the darn breeze :-(. My research showed that observer with large aperture can see pink or red in this PN, thus the raspberry name, but not so through the TV-102 Light Cup :-(. Consulting with the old master, Walter Scott Houston, he apparently did not mention any red color through his 10" reflector or his 4" RF reflector! Ah, so the light cup didn't do too badly ;-). It looked very much like this image I found through the light cup, just not as large or as intense.
http://www.blackskies.com/images10c.htm
Last stop was R Leporis, otherwise also known as Hind's Crimson Star.
The TV-102 caught it easily but I was surprised to see that it was a
lot less bright than I thought it would be (because I forgot to note
its magnitude due to my own incompetence.) Although I didn't think
to estimate its magnitude at the time, I think it was close to the
9th magnitude star SAO 150225. Its color, while is definitely dark
red, wasn't a dramatic "blood drop" as described by Hind himself. I
used 30x, 60x and 110x. Checking with my notes afterward, I saw that
it was a variable with mag 6-11.5 every 427 days! Ah, so perhaps,
the TV-102 caught it when the "blood" has already been drained. Ok,
try again at the end of the year or next year after it gets a transfusion
;-).
Tonight, the TV-102 Light Cup did indeed savor the tasty fruits of
the heavens and still managed not to turn into a 4" vampire
;-).