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 (49x), 15mm (81x), 10mm (122x), 6.5mm (188x), 4mm (305x) |
| Time | 8:00pm - 10:00pm CST |
| Transparency | Clear (8/10) |
| Seeing | Mostly Stable (7/10) |
| Weather | Temperatures in the mid 40s, dropping to near freezing as the evening progressed. There was no wind. |
Tonight's skies were a repeat of last night's, except for the absence of smoke from nearby fires. Tomorrow night was supposed to be cloudy, so I figured I better get in my observing time while I could.
My main goal tonight was to pick up a couple of stray Messiers and doubles I had missed the night before, and to make a dent in my Herschel-400 list. I decided to concentrate most of the evening on Monoceros, the Unicorn.
| Beta | Monoceros | Double Star | 8:15pm CST |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | RA: 0628.8 | Dec: -0702 | Mag: 4.7, 5.2 |
| At 49x, this pair can be split, but it looks much nicer at 122x. Both stars are of similar brightness and appear blue-white in color. This is a pretty nice-looking double. | |||
| Epsilon | Monoceros | Double Star | 8:20pm CST |
| 8 | RA: 0623.8 | Dec: +0436 | Mag: 4.5, 6.5 |
| This is wide pair, easily split at low power. The primary star is a couple of magnitudes brighter than the companion. The brighter star is white and the fainter star is somewhat yellowish. 81x offers about the best view. | |||
| NGC 2232 | Monoceros | Open Cluster | 8:40pm CST |
| RA: 0626.6 | Dec: -0445 | Mag: 3.9 | |
| This is a very loose open cluster of bright stars. A couple dozen stars are visible, spread out in an oblong pattern. One end of the cluster has two lines of stars forming a V. At the tip of the V is a knot of stars, with a real bright star in the middle. The other end of the cluster has two little arcs of stars like a bug's antennae. There are a few other stars here and there, but the middle of the cluster is pretty empty. At 49x, the cluster doesn't quite fit into the field of view. It is too open and there are too few stars to be very impressive. | |||
| Christmas Tree Cluster | Monoceros | Open Cluster | 8:45pm CST |
| NGC 2264 | RA: 0641.0 | Dec: +0954 | Mag: 4.1 |
| Sure enough, this cluster does resemble a Christmas tree. The brightest star in the cluster is the base of the trunk, and the next brightest star is where the tree top or star would be. A smattering of stars form the basic shape of an evergreen tree. If I'd seen this cluster before I heard its description, I probably wouldn't have noticed the Christmas tree shape, but with that image in my mind, it does bear a striking resemblance. On the bottom row of branches of the tree there are three double stars, one of which has about half the separation of the other two pairs. The rest of the cluster consists of single stars. I couldn't detect the accompanying nebulosity, but I really didn't expect to tonight. I'll have to look for it under darker skies. | |||
| Hubble's Variable Nebula | Monoceros | Bright Nebula | 8:55pm CST |
| NGC 2261 | RA: 0639.2 | Dec: +0844 | Mag: ? |
| This is the first time I ever viewed this object. It's fairly faint, but not too bad for a nebula. It is triangular in shape, like a comet with a short tail. 122x offers a decent view. It's easy to overlook when you're sweeping at low power. I had to sweep the area at 81x to find it. With averted vision, a couple of spots in the nebula look stellar. But looking directly at it only shows nebulosity. | |||
| NGC 2251 | Monoceros | Open Cluster | 9:00pm CST |
| RA: 0634.6 | Dec: +0822 | Mag: 7.3 | |
| This cluster of moderately faint stars has an interesting shape. It resembles a flattened out triangle, similar to the outline of Mt. Fuji. At 81x, it fits into the field of view nicely. A dozen stars or so are visible. The brightest ones form the baseline of the mountain, and a slightly fainter star serves as the mountain peak. The rest of the outline is filled in by even fainter stars. This open cluster is pretty decent for a Herschel object. | |||
| M 50 | Monoceros | Open Cluster | 9:10pm CST |
| NGC 2323 | RA: 0703.2 | Dec: -0820 | Mag: 5.9 |
| This is quite a treat after some of the other clusters I viewed tonight. It is rich and large. It fits nicely into the field of view at 49x. It is difficult to tell where the cluster begins and ends, but it does have some spiral patterns of stars. It is richest toward the middle of the cluster, and very pretty. At 81x, the cluster barely fits into the field of view. The center is much more defined, with the spirals, arcs, and curves of stars reminding me of a spirograph. Most of the stars are white, but on one of the spiral arms is a yellow-orange star that sets itself apart from the rest. | |||
| NGC 2301 | Monoceros | Open Cluster | 9:20pm CST |
| RA: 0651.8 | Dec: +0028 | Mag: 6.0 | |
| This is a vaguely T-shaped open cluster, with a knot of stars at the intersection of the T. The T appears short and fat, because the crossbeam is much longer than the baseline. The cluster barely fits into the field of view at 81x. Right at the intersection of the T, there is a golden-yellow star with a blue companion of similar magnitude. The other stars are white or blue-white. On one end of the T is another knot of stars that appears as a fuzzy patch until you scrutinize it closer. | |||
| M 93 | Puppis | Open Cluster | 9:25pm CST |
| NGC 2447 | RA: 0744.6 | Dec: -2352 | Mag: 6.2 |
| This is a fairly compact open cluster, with a butterfly shape. One wing of the butterfly has many more stars than the other. And the back part of that wing has a nice triangular wedge of stars clustered together. This is an impressive open cluster. Most of the stars appear white, with a few yellow-white stars mixed in. The longer I stare at this cluster, the more stars I can pick out. There must be around 100 stars, or at least several dozen. | |||
| Struve 747 | Orion | Double Star | 9:35pm CST |
| RA: 0535.0 | Dec: -0600 | Mag: 4.8, 5.7 | |
| This is a wide double in the Sword of Orion, easily split at 49x. One star appears slightly brighter than the other. Both stars are white or blue-white in color. There really isn't anything remarkable about this pair except for its location. | |||
| Nairalsaif | Orion | Double Star | 9:40pm CST |
| Iota | RA: 0535.4 | Dec: -0555 | Mag: 2.8, 6.9 |
| This pair is in the same field of view as Struve 747. The primary component is really bright, and the much fainter companion can barely be detected at 49x. By increasing to 81x, the companion becomes obvious. Both stars are white, although the color of the second star is a bit difficult to determine because of the blinding glare of the primary. | |||
The night chill was starting to eat through my gloves and my eyeglasses were practically useless because they kept fogging up, so I figured it was time to pack it in for the night.