Lassen Bumpass Hell Tues July 1 2008 The Dark Side

Mark Johnston

Quick note: Absolutely enjoyed GSSP and wished I could stay longer but had family fun planned. Many thanks to all the GSSP gang for all the work they put into GSSP 2008 ... BRAVO!

And now for something completely different ...

Have decided to post quick overview and then the more detailed object list like I used to post. I always keep these detailed reports but have not posted them for a while so am starting again. People can skip um or take a peek as they choose.

This was my first observing trip to Lassen, Bumpass Hel location and although the sky looked like we may get smoked out it turned out to be incredible for Tuesday night. I had a blast and was tracking down Barnards mostly but was often distracted on to looks from time to time at old favorites. Some like Barnards E were only to be taken in with Greg LaFlamme's 120mm f/5 which was also able to take in both halfs of the veil (also amazing, thanks Greg!).

I have not listed all the eye candy but many of the usual summer suspects were some of the best views I have seen to date. I did take the time to look very carefully at M8 Lagoon and M20 Trifed and they were amazing with some nebulous areas I had not noticed extended so far in other skies.

The eye candy of most note was M8 was alive with silky regions trailing off wider than I had seen in the past and I suspect I was really seeing perhaps NGC6526, SH2-28. When Andy's wife took a look at M8 there was a verbal 'gasp' and she was sold that Andy should get a big scope. PS: Andy owes me big time here ... Ok, no charge.

For the first time in my observations I spent a lot of time looking inside M57 ring nebula because a certain pobserver who will remain unnammed but had the initials of Greg. LaFlamme. said the central star was a doable observation. With the 18" starmaster and patience it revieled itself with 20% averted as a pinpoint little star drifting in and out. Really a treat but you needed patience.

The Barnard objects that were on my 'wish list' were half covered on this night at Bumpass Hel and then many were covered from Adin (report to follow later in the week).

Great night to be remembered a very long time.

MarkJ

Detailed OR follows:

Lassen, Bumpass Hell Tue July 1, 2008 Great skies considering fires.

Summary: Focus was to be Barnard Dark Nebula. Scope: 18" f/3.7 Starmaster Observers: Greg LaFlamme, Mike Delany, Payton, Hans S. Andy and family Conditions: Great night considering fires in area. 21.8 on SQM. Great seeing.

B 145 FAVORITE in Cyg
DrkN 35.0x 6.0' SKY 20 02 52.2 +37 43 10
23:00 E-W 45' len. Bright star on North. 2 stars dead center N-S. Stands out great. Post observation note: It is shorter than my observation.

NGC 5033 UGC 8307 CGCG 189-43 MCG +6-29-62 IRAS 13111+3651 PGC 45948 Glxy 10.8b 12.4x 5.0' 170 SA(s)c RC3 13 13 28.0 +36 35 38
23:33 N-S 2-3:1 EL. 10' len. Not quite stellar core. Bright star on N. Dark faster on W. M 51 NGC 5194 UGC 8493 Arp 85 VV 403 PGC 47404 FAVORITE Messier Glxy 9.0b 10.3x 8.1' 17 SA(s)bc pec RC3 13 29 53.3 +47 11 48
00:00 A real jaw dropper out here. Spirals clearly showing and connection to 5195 also shows up. Bright central core.

NGC 5195 UGC 8494 CGCG 246-9 MCG +8-25-14 PGC 47413 FAVORITE (with M51)
MltG 10.5b 5.8x 4.6' 79 I0 pec RC3 13 29 58.7 +47 16 21 00:05 Mostly shows up as a core with gradual dimming to outer limits.

M 20 NGC 6514 LBN 27 Messier Trifid Neb
BrtN 9.0 17.0x12.0' E+R LBN 18 02 25.0 -22 59 00 00:26 10' DIA. 2 central close stars 45deg PA. One lane directly west but breaks N right away. 1 lane straight south. 1 lane off at 45deg Pa aligned with 2 central stars. Just NNE 5' is fairly even nebulous area not noticed in past. B 85 Lanes in M20. DrkN --- SKY 18 02 24.9 -23 01 04 Repeated from M20 note above: One lane directly west but breaks N right away. 1 lane straight south. 1 lane off at 45deg Pa aligned with 2 central stars.

M 8 NGC 6523 IC 1271 LBN 25 BrtN 5.0 50.0x40.0' E LBN 18 04 03.0 -24 18 00
00:36 Over 40' longer len but silky and faint in outer areas. Main nebula has large dark lane cupped mostly N-S to NW. Seems to be a blue star in middle of the dark lane that forms a cup. Some nebuloscity area past the cup towards the S of cluster to E. Tight group of stars like mini quest mark dead center in brightest of nebulosity. Post observation note: The large 40' nebula was really NGC6526, SH2-28 and not M8. I did not look at chart to find location of barnards 88,89,296 so only described lane.

NGC 6530 Cr 362 Open 4.6 14.0' 113 6.0 II 2 m n LYN 18 04 28.6 -24 21 26
00:36/ Loosely packed open cluster. 20' DIA

B 86 LDN 93 FAVORITE DrkN 5.0' Ir G SKY 18 02 58.6 -27 52 00
01:00 10' len. Tall triangular shape with highest point to N. 3 stars in center form an A. Slightly to west at top of stars is orange star. Very very dark area for this ink spot.

NGC 6520 Cr 361 Mel 187 FAVORITE Open 7.6 6.0' 60 9.0 I 2 r n LYN 18 03 24.9 -27 52 56
01:05 10' N-S and 7' E-W. About 25-30 main member some lines in the stars. Even spacing and not very condensed. One orange star to south end.

B 65 DrkN 12.0' SKY 17 19 34.2 -26 44 48
01:05 Not easy to pull out from background as not a lot of stars here. Some very very faint stars visible in centeral section of this objects. Observed with 120mm Refractor (Greg LaFlamme's 120mm f/5 with 26mm Nag)

B 66 DrkN 8.0' SKY 17 20 06.3 -26 55 38
01:08 Not easily standing out from background as there are few background stars. Some very dim background stars do show through the center I believe. Observed with 120mm Refractor (Greg LaFlamme's 120mm f/5 with 26mm Nag)

B 143 LDN 694 Barnard's E FAVORITE
DrkN --- Ir SKY 19 41 06.2 +10 54 17
01:30 Spectacular in wide field refractor. The E points more or less West. SW bar is largest and very obvious. North bar is not nearly as obvious. Center bar of E is not standing out much more than a stub. Some darkening also off to south that distorts the 'E'. Observed with 120mm Refractor (Greg LaFlamme's 120mm f/5 with 26mm Nag)

M 24 IC 4715 Open 120.0' --- --- star cloud BAA 18 17 00.0 -18 36 00
01:40 Mostly in this star cloud for Barnards. Took quick look at favorite 6603.

B 307 Bad 1st observation of area 5' N-W. See B 307 later. DrkN 6.0x 1.0' SKY 18 18 40.2 -17 58 31
01:40 Appears almost as 2 areas overlaping. 10' total len. Stands out easily. Perhaps appears as peanut due to 2 fairly bright stars pinching off middle. MISTAKE! This is 5' N-W of B 307 so see observation a little later.

B 92 LDN 323 DrkN 15.0x 9.0' E G SKY 18 15 27.9 -18 13 19
01:55 Huge 15' longest len. Extremely dark central area, obvious dark area. Small amounts of stars dimly shining through on W side.

B 93 LDN 327 DrkN 8.0x 3.0' Co G SKY 18 16 53.7 -18 03 58
01:59 Fairly thin with a brighter star on middle of the east side.

B 307 DrkN 6.0x 1.0' SKY 18 18 40.2 -17 58 31
02:00 Re-Observed. Much thinner than B93. Slight outline of stars around edge.

NGC 7331 UGC 12113 CGCG 514-68 MCG +6-49-45 PGC 69327 Glxy 9.4v 14.5x 3.7' 168 SA(s)b RC3 22 37 04.5 +34 25 00
02:10 NGC 7335 UGC 12116 CGCG 514-69 MCG +6-49-47 PGC 69338 Glxy 14.4b 1.7x 0.7' 148 SA(rs)0+ RC3 22 37 19.3 +34 26 56
02:10 2' len max. Jumps right out at about same N-S orientation of 7331

NGC 7337 UGC 12120 CGCG 514-71 MCG +6-49-50 PGC 69344 Glxy 15.2p 1.3x 0.9' 134 SB(rs)b RC3 22 37 26.7 +34 22 29
02:12 Spherical and half size of 7335 and smaller than 1'

NGC 7340 CGCG 514-75 MCG +6-49-52 PGC 69362 Glxy 14.7p 1.1x 0.7' 162 E? RC3 22 37 44.2 +34 24 37
02:14 Spherical. Sub 1' DIA. About same size as 7337 perhaps a tad brighter. NGC 7336 MCG +6-49-49 PGC 69337 Glxy 16.8 1.1x 0.4' 139 S PGC 22 37 22.0 +34 28 56
02:15 Smallest and most difficult of the 4 'fleas' but best view I have seen to date.

M 31 NGC 224 UGC 454 CGCG 535-17 MCG +7-2-16 PGC 2557 Glxy 4.4b 192x 62' 35 SA(s)b RC3 00 42 44.4 +41 16 08
02:30 Spectacular. Over 2 deg len at about 45deg PA. Dark line on opposite side from M32 was standing out. I moved on as it was time to clean up. Revisit.

M 32 NGC 221 UGC 452 CGCG 535-16 Arp 168 MCG +7-2-15 Arak 12 IRAS 399+4035 PGC 2555 Glxy 9.0b 8.7x 6.4' 170 cE2 RC3 00 42 41.8 +40 51 56
02:30 Spherical with gradual fading. perhaps 2-3' DIA

M 110 NGC 205 UGC 426 CGCG 535-14 MCG +7-2-14 IRAS 376+4124 PGC 2429 Glxy 8.9b 21.9x10.9' 170 E5 pec RC3 00 40 22.9 +41 41 22 02:30 Almost N-S and 2:1 EL about 7' len. Very removed from M31 and gradual fading.