More Planetary Nebs

[Mark at Beaufort]

Since buying the Astronomik O-III filter the other day I decided to view a few more PNs. The clouds were annoying until about 9.30pm when it went very clear although I had heavy dew.

Used the 10" Dob with the 21mm, 13mm and 8mm Ethos and the 24mm Maxvision in the 80mm Stellarvue finder - over 5 degree FOV although exit pupil a bit large.

Concentrated on Aquila and Cygnus. Started with Aquila because it was going down - viewed NGC6781 (Snowglobe Neb) and NGC6804 both very faint.

Over to Cygnus and viewed NGC7008 (Fetus Neb), NGC7026 (Cheeseburger Neb) and NGC7048 (Disk Ghost) really needed the O-III filter to view some of these.

Finally with Perseus being nearly overhead tried again to view the California Neb with the Thousand Oaks H.Beta filter. Again not really convinced although there was some shimmering as viewed through the 80mm finder - 24mm Maxvision and H.Beta filter.

[RikM]

They really are a varied and interesting class of object

[cotterless45]

Some really notable planetaries up at the moment,

NGC 2371 and 2372 bi lobed and bright at the top of Gemini.

NGC 1501, the "blue oyster ",at the end of Kemble's Cascade. Also in Camelopardalis

NGC 3568 , the "lime nebula ",with a red giant central star and a reported yellowish halo.

The planetary nebulae are mostly achievable from light polluted sites and provide some lovely views,

Nick.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Nick - yes it was great to see Gemini rising last night although I have no record of viewing NGC2371 and 2372 - something to make a note of. However, I notice that they are included in this list of best PNs to view - http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/plannebs.html

I enjoy viewing the Kemble Cascade and then picking up NGC1501 and the cluster NGC1502. Checking my records I observed IC3568 in March of this year.

[Special K]

Some good hunting, Mark, thanks for the report. Must be nice to use the O-III filter on those PN's. I've never tried one but not sure I have enough aperture to sustain the loss if light.

Good luck with the California! I'm really keen to spot this but no luck so far. Is it a catch 22 where you need a bucket to gather up the light vs getting a wide enough FOV for it to be apparent?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Some nice PNs there. I am slowly working my way through the http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/plannebs.html list too

[Mark at Beaufort]

Some good hunting, Mark, thanks for the report. Must be nice to use the O-III filter on those PN's. I've never tried one but not sure I have enough aperture to sustain the loss if light.

Good luck with the California! I'm really keen to spot this but no luck so far. Is it a catch 22 where you need a bucket to gather up the light vs getting a wide enough FOV for it to be apparent?

Kevin I had some fantastic views last week with this Astronomic O-III filter using my 6" Newt. You don't need a large aperture every time - the view I had last week of the North American Neb and the Veil was brilliant.

[Special K]

Sounds cool! I've tried my UHC on those objects with the 5 inch newt but get nothing from backyard, which is about NELM of mag 5ish.

[Helix]

Lovely report, Mark.

NGC 7008 and 7048 are my favourites. Observed both PNs with and without filters a week ago. I used Pentax 5 mm, 10 mm and Takahashi 7 mm eyepieces, also OIII and UHC Lumicon with 10" dob. Both PNs are quiet easy to observe even without filters. But maybe it depend on atmosphere condition and observing site.

Thank you for sharing. Inspired to look at California nebula.

Regards,

Tatyana

[bish]

Nice report. A few targets there for the next star party.