Yet another unexpected session

[assasincz]

I'm fully aware that the number of my reports in recent days is becoming somewhat tiresome, but bear with me. On Thursday afternoon (24th May), I was just sitting and contemplating the magnificence of the observing session the previous night when I noticed that the sky is getting gradually more and more bereft of cloud cover. Sure enough, satellite imagery confirmed that the cloud blanket was moving away to the south and bringing clear blue skies from the direction of Poland. Not five minutes later, the session preperations were under way.

I got to the airfield just minutes after sunset, which left me with a possibility to observe the crescent Venus for a while (seeing that low above the horizon was terrible though), and I then moved the scope to observe the Moon (seeing was not as terrible, as it was higher in the sky, but still fairly appaling) - I spent some time observing the magnificent crests and bumps around the Tarruntius Crater (56 km diameter) and I then investigated the area of Mare Crisium, where I tried to spot the smallest crater possible, but the poor seeing prevented me from spotting anything beyond approx. 6 kms in diameter. It was also interesting to see the entire Moon globe lit by earthshine in lowest magnification. I also observed Saturn for a while and was amazed how the seeing got stable in just few moments, so I could fully enjoy all the various details, which kept me occupied until it got fully dark. I have to point out that the observations that night were made difficult, because for most of the night, it was windy and hence fairly cold and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, when it finally got dark enough, I decided to follow up and extend the previous Draco galaxy hunt to include the Hercules and Ophiuchus areas.

• NGC 6166 (12.4 m, galaxy) - Hercules
  Although it's supposed to be the brightest member of Abell 2199 galaxy cluster, when I slewed the telescope to where it was supposed to be, I immediatel though that I bit off more than I can chew - I certainly "saw" something, but it was very elusive and could only be properly seen with averted vision. However, the more determined I was, the more I saw and I was soon able to approximately make out its shape and roughly its orientation. Apparently, there are multiple other tiny galaxies of Abell 2199 cluster in its surroundings, but these were way beyond the my reach (not even included in Stellarium), as seen here: (Besides NGC 6166, I was only ever able to see the brightest stars in the picture)
  http://www.saratogaskies.com/image.pl?i=29
  
  
• NGC 6181 (11.9 m, galaxy) - Hercules
  A spiral galaxy located near the star Kornpehoros in Hercules of no strikings visual feature, just a round blob really. There are supposedly two fairly significant spiral arms visible,
  and although I might have seen slight glimplses of these, I could not confirm seeing them for sure - you know the mind tricks. I also paid a quick visit to the NGC 6210 planetary nebula farly close by for a brief moment.
  NGC 6181 picture here:
  http://www.astrosurf.com/bsalque/Dessins/2006loz/ngc6181.jpg
  
  
• NGC 6482 (11.3 m, galaxy) - Hercules
  Now this was the most challenging galaxy of the night - as I never know what to expect in advance, I was expecting the usual, a round, perhapsy oval shaped blob of light, but this was not the case. All I was able to see was a quite distinct point of light that looked like a star with a elusive haze of fuzziness to the side of it - definitely not a galaxy you might expect. It was certainly one of the weirdest galaxies I have ever seen with my own eyes. Looking at a picture of it later at home, I confirmed that what I was looking at was correct the picture is actually quite an accurate representtive of what I saw:
  http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg439/scaled.php?server=439&filename=ngc6482nr5.jpg&res=landing
  
  
• NGC 6384 (10.6 m, galaxy) - Ophiuchus
  Now this was more like it - at first glance, it seemed rather underwhelming and indistinct blob of fuzziness, but the more I looked, the more I was able to see. Although it has a higher magnitude than any other galaxy I observed that night, it seemed fairly underwhelming, but then it dawned on me - with averted vision, I was able to see an oval galaxy way larger than any that night or the previous session. I made a quick sketch only to confirm its size, shape and orientation later.
  
  
• NGC 6826 - The Blinking Planetary (10.0 m, planetary nebula) - Cygnus
  This was the last DSO of the night, as at that time, it was past 1:45 AM and with the light flood quickly approaching, I decided to tackle this planetary nebula. I have seen it before with my 4.5" newtonian and it was rather featureless. Precisely why is it called the Blinking Planetary was still a mystery for me. This time though, with my 12" dobsonian, it was a completely different story: Looking at it directly, one can only see its birght core (appearing almost as a single star), but looking away from it, a sharp bright cloud around it presented itself. Looking back at it directly, it disappeared again - this looking there and back kept me entertained for quite some time. Really a magnificent object, I must say. I think the picture below is a really good representative of what I was able to make out visually:
  http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/97029/530wm/C0032802-Blinking_Planetary_Nebula-SPL.jpg
  
  

By 2AM, the darkness was receding, so I packed my stuff (again, it was fairly cold and windy, and I was grumpy already) and headed home. Still a pleasatn night full of, for me at least, new DSOs.

[rory]

nice going assasincz. ive not seen the blinking planetary as yet, shall have to try it out.

thanks for the report.

[Double Kick Drum]

Great report with loads of detail.

The Blinking planetary nebula did not blink for me but is very bright and one that will tolerate light polluted skies. NGC 6210 is also a nice object for slightly smaller apertures.

Thanks for sharing!