Chico, Oct. 7-8, 2002

by Glenn Talbert

For those the went to the CalStar 2002, I was in the area some 23 miles east, just off of Jolon Rd. (north side) I was their for work not recreational purposes :( I was however keeping an eye open for any vehicles that looked like they were hauling "cannons".

I did'nt see any F-18 dog fights, but it was interesting to see how the constellations had shifted northward from that lower latitude.

Now I'm back in Chico looking forward to some 100+ temps today. (anybody wanna come over and cut my lawn......please!) ;)

Observer	Glenn Talbert
Location	Chico CA. USA. (39.46N)
Date	Oct. 7-8, 2002
Time	20:00-01:30 PDT
Telescope	C9.25
Transparency:8/1	Transparency:8/10

Objects seen:

Galaxies: NGC 2300
Planetary Nebulae: NGC 1501
Open Clusters: NGC 6940, NGC 7788, NGC 1496, NGC 1513.

NGC 6940	Open cluster in Vulpecula.
Extreamly large, bright cluster. Numerous stars inside. Takes up entire fov using a wide field eyepiece at 69x. An easy starhop from Cygnus.
NGC 7788	Open cluster in Cassiopeia.
At 94x pretty small, compact cluster with some nebulosity on the Northwest portion. Increased magnification to 195x nebulosity is now easily discernlble into several faint stars. In the same fov is another open cluster NGC 7790, bright large with widely scattered stars.
NGC 1496	Open Cluster in Perseus.
A small tight grouping of 12 stars forming the letter "P". 94x
NGC 1501	Planetary nebula in Camelopardalis.
Moderate in size, pretty bright, round with the edges being easily definable. Central star not seen. Best view was without the OIII filter at 130x.
NGC 1513	Open Cluster (aka Ring Cluster) in Perseus.
Fairly small, round, ring shape with no stars inside the center. Additional stars are scattered outside the southern portion.
NGC 2300	Galaxy in Cepheus.
Located way over there on the opposite side of Polaris. An elliptical galaxy, pretty bright (sbr 12.8). The core is large, bright and diffused. Bright star in field did not interfere with viewing, however this galaxy in an interacting pair with NGC 2276 (sbr 13.5) which was not seen proably due to the bright field star.

Last object was M45 Pleiades. I installed a 80A light blue filter and slewed this area, not bad...not bad. Of course it did not enhance any of the reflection nebula, but it did make the blue stars look bluier. Nice.